Most people are aware of physical disabilities, however, what the public at large is not so aware of are psychological disabilities, but they too exist to the extent that the expertise of disability psychologists are required to help treat those affected.
It might serve us better if we define exactly what psychological disability is. For a start, it is not one single condition but instead is a whole range of mental conditions and disorders relating to behaviours and emotions, and well as cognitive functions.
It should be noted for a psychological condition to be classed as a disability the extent to which that conditions negatively impacts a person in multiple areas of their life including health, relationships, learning, ability to work, and even with regards to their legal status needs to be significant. Obviously, the more areas which are affected, the greater the degree of disability.
Specific examples of conditions that a disability psychologist will help their clients with include bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, personality disorder and eating disorders, although there are lots more.
Many people, when they hear the list of conditions that qualify as psychological disabilities are likely to have heard about those individual conditions but have never thought of nor classified them as disabilities. Most think that for something to be a disability that it must be something that you can see, or that has to impede the person with the disability in some physical way.
