Living with Physical Disability and Amputation

Electronic book text

According to the Department of Health, there are 8.7 million physically disabled people in the UK. Of these, some 460,000 people have spinal cord injuries and/or amputations. Acquiring a disability brings specific problems, not just in terms of confidence, self-esteem, and adapting to a new physical reality, but of the recognized medical phenomenon of limb disconnection, which involves a mismatch between the brain's actual representation of the body shape and its physical appearance. There is plenty of mythology around 'phantom limbs' and similar, but this book takes an evidence-based look at the reality, and uses cognitive behavioural therapy and other methods to deal with it.