Can you expect feelings of depression and anxiety to get better as time goes on? - Robin Dorman, PsyD

So, in terms of feelings of depression, anxiety, and really intense levels of stress, for the most part, you can expect those to get better. Because more and more is known, more and more is learned, adaption is process, grieving is a process. So you can expect to get through some of those initial depressions and anxieties. Now, that's not true for all people. Experiences of depression or anxiety can be delayed. It doesn't necessarily mean that they're getting worse; it could just be that they weren't fully experienced in the beginning, and they come on delay. If you feel that symptoms are getting to a point where you're no longer able to manage them on your own, or they're just going steadily in a direction away from where you'd like to be, this is where you really want to reach out to providers. Where, if you know of mental health providers, to reach out to them, if you don't know of mental health providers, to reach out to your medical team, to your rehab team, who should have referrals for you to talk to somebody. You know, there's different ways to treat anxiety and depression. They are very treatable illnesses, and oftentimes they can be, in spinal cord injuries, they're minimized because people think, "well of course you're depressed, or of course you're anxious." Well no, you don't have to be depressed or anxious because you're going through a spinal cord injury.