Someone suffers from a stroke every two seconds across the world. In the US alone, over 6.5 million people are stroke survivors. Strokes cause major impacts to the morbidity and mortality of survivors and is the leading cause of serious long-term disability, impacting physical, emotional, social, and occupational aspects of survivor’s lives. Many view stroke as an older adult’s disease; however 10 - 15% of strokes happen in people younger than 45. I am one of them. 
A critical facet to recovery is managing the social and emotional impacts of stroke. Among the post-stroke disorders or personality changes, depression and anxiety rank high. The data tells us that “poststroke depression independently increased the risk of death by 13%” (Williams, 2004). Depression affects between one- and two-thirds of stroke survivors and anxiety affects about 20 percent of survivors (American Stroke Association, 2014). What does this look like from a survivor’s perspective? For me, I am terrified of having another stroke, scared of losing that control over my body again. How will this impact my ability to work and provide for myself?
From a transient ischemic attack to a massive stroke, each survivor is impacted differently yet we all have a similar need - social connection. “People low in social connection are more vulnerable to anxiety, depression, antisocial behavior, and even suicidal behaviors which tend to further increase their isolation” (Seppala, 2014). This presentation will describe the need for and role of social connection as well as methods for provider screening and referral.

A stroke survivor’s perspective on behavioral health