CHAMPION ATHLETE DANNI DI TORO AND BEYOND BLUE CHIEF COMMUNITY OFFICER PATRICE O’BRIEN JOIN FEROS CARE’S GROW BOLD WITH DISABILITY PODCAST TO EXPLORE MENTAL HEALTH AND A PARTNERSHIP BENEFITING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY.

As a six-time Paralympian armed with a mental approach as strong as the physical, Danni Di Toro has broken through many a perceived barrier in collecting a lifetime of accolades.

However, that wasn’t always the case for Danni, who, not a stranger to glory through claiming 10 Australian Open tennis, grand slam and other titles in wheelchair and table tennis, is also not immune to the ill effects of mental health.

HOW STIGMAS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESSES IMPACT THE MENTAL WELLBEING OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY

For every win, there was once a doubt, and like Danni, people with disability are more likely to experience higher levels of psychological stress than those without disability, while they grapple with generalisations from “your life has no value”, through to extremes when overcoming the same perceived barriers contextualised in a narrative of helplessness.

“There is this weird stigma that you are not able to live a meaningful life, through to ‘you’re such a superhero because you've overcome so much,” said Danni, whose life changed forever  in 1998 when a brick wall falling on her at a swimming carnival left the now 45-year-old a paraplegic.

“As a young person dealing with a disability, I kind of went through all those things and as an athlete excelling in different areas. When I was struggling with mental health, I was in states of anxiety and even panic attacks, and when I spoke about those, it was like, ‘well, surely that's not happening for you because you've overcome so much’.

“It's hard because that stigma kind of stops you from being able to empower yourself to reach out to the organisations and to your community and to the people that you know who can actually support you through those times.”

Speaking with journalist Pete Timbs and writer, editor and disability advocate Tristram Peters on Feros Care’s Growing Bold With Disability Podcast , Danni spoke about her journey and how reaching out to those who can support helped her find balance and resilience.

One of those organisations, Beyond Blue, became more of a support when Danni’s journey led her to being appointed the Athlete Engagement Wellbeing Officer and Vice Chairperson of the Athlete Commission for Paralympics Australia.

Partnering with Paralympics Australia, Beyond Blue’s Chief Community Officer Patrice O’Brien said the partnership reflects a need for supports to be as equally available for people with disability.

While mental health doesn’t discriminate, situations vary with different factors influencing anxieties, depression and struggles for people with disability, which Patrice said needed to be better understood and supported.

“We try to ensure that all our supports that we provide are as accessible as possible, but we know we can always get better at that,” she said.

“So, part of what we really want to do is keep talking to people within the community and with disabilities about how we can get better. That’s one of the reasons we’ve got a partnership with Paralympics Australia.”

As a conduit between Beyond Blue and elite-athletes and people with disability, Danni spoke about the role while echoing Patrice’s sentiments of a need “to get better” in connective and support opportunities for people with disability, who not only face stigma, but are susceptible to loneliness, particularly in periods of isolation such as in 2020.

Aiming to fill a major gap in that support, Danni sees the need for more education and awareness.

“When it comes to being the best versions of ourselves on and off the field, there’s a lot of awareness around that with athletes, but not necessarily for athletes with disability,” Danni said.

“For the most part in the last 21 years, those services have not been made available to athletes with disabilities, so there’s an advocacy in bringing that to light, particularly with big organisations who make big decisions. When you start thinking about what welfare looks like and considering athletes with disability and their challenges, there’s a lot of learning to be done.

“Looking online, I found one organisation working with mental health and people with disability in the community… so, we’ve worked really hard to create people within that who’ve had some lived experiences and experience with disability.”

While the opportunity to seek equal and beneficial support shouldn’t be mutually exclusive to the non-disability community, Danni said that seeking an ultimate outcome of “happiness” should be.

In her own experiences, Danni’s mental health is a continuum of her physical health, but whether an athlete or not, she said understanding each person’s individual circumstances and experiences was a key factor in support services’ ability to co-succeed in positive outcomes.

“We all want to be happy and want to be living a life that’s free from suffering, and for people with disability, the things we look for are around purpose and community,” she said.

“When you think about how we live purposeful, meaningful lives, it’s a challenge for people within our community as there’s lots of barriers. Our unemployment rates are twice as high, there’s reduced choices, difficulties in getting amongst the community, and being able to access places.

“There’s (high) rates of physical, sexual, and financial abuse within our community, and there are so many things that people with disabilities are experiencing on a daily level that really impact.”

HOW SPORT IS ASSISTING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY LIKE DANNI TO POSITIVELY IMPACT THEIR MENTAL HEALTH

Praising sport and being active as a major factor in enjoying her own holistic health and limiting those impacts, Danni said finding one’s individual purpose, regardless of what it might be, is a key for setting the alarm and getting up in the morning.

While “Growing Bold” means something separate to both Danni and Patrice as individuals, they are both united in Beyond Blue’s and Paralympics Australia’s partnership in finding better ways to support the mental health of people with disability.

“I've had to work really hard to back myself, when those red flags in my behaviour and my mental thoughts appear, to pick up on them and reach out,” Danni said.

“But being bold for me is about exploring the new, and very much being comfortable with the uncomfortable and seeing what comes from that because there’s some pretty exciting things there.”

“The only way to truly grow bold is to be bold, and to really embrace challenges when they come your way,” Patrice added.

“I think, to truly realise the greatest learnings, sometimes we have to go through the greatest challenges, so, it is boldness in being open to the opportunity. That’s not always easy, but it’s part of the key to living a great life.”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR GROWING BOLD AND MENTAL WELLBEING PODCAST.

TO LISTEN TO OTHER GREAT EPISODES FROM OUR GROW BOLD WITH DISABILITY PODCAST, CLICK HERE.