Mental Health Issues and Adults with Learning Disabilities
المؤلف:
PAUL MALORET
المصدر:
Caring for People with Learning Disabilities
الجزء والصفحة:
P73-C5
2025-10-10
223
Mental Health Issues and Adults with Learning Disabilities
KEY POINTS
• Issues associated with mental health are highly prevalent in people with learning disabilities; they may often go unrecognized, unreported and, as a result, untreated.
• It is important to make a clear distinction between mental health illness and learning disabilities.
• Adults with learning disabilities can and do experience mental health problems and, indeed, prevalence rates are generally regarded as higher than in the general population.
• When caring for and supporting adults with learning disabilities, it is essential that a grounded understanding of mental health issues is achieved.
We provide an overview of mental health issues and adults with learning disabilities. It identifies areas of the subject in which knowledge is necessary to any professional or informal carers working with people with learning disabilities and associated mental health needs. Priest and Gibbs (2004) suggest that carers of people with learning disabilities are sometimes limited in their understanding of mental health needs and how to adequately assess these needs and provide the required care; this may be the result of deficiency in specific education. The Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities (2005) suggests that there are differences of service provision, depending upon which area of the United Kingdom you live in; also reported is a lack of knowledge about what support is available and how to access it.
It has also been argued that registered nurses working with people with learning disabilities, who themselves are considered as main providers of mental health care to people with learning disabilities, also lack sufficient education in this area. The reality is that mental health needs are highly prevalent in people with learning disabilities, but they can often be unrecognized, unreported and therefore untreated (Northway 2003).
Consideration will be given to how prevalent mental health problems are in learning disabilities and possible reasons for this. It will address how these needs are assessed; how mental health conditions are diagnosed and the carer’s role in this process. Subsequent to this, the service provision for mental health needs in people with learning disability will be analyzed alongside the interventions that these services may offer.
It is important that from the outset a clear distinction is made, in order to avoid any confusion relating to the differences between mental health and learning disabilities. When people with learning disabilities experience a mental health problem, they are often referred to as having a ‘dual diagnosis’, which refers to two different conditions co-existing. The two conditions, however, can influence one another; they cannot be viewed as one of the same. This can often be confusing, as aspects of behavior seen in people with learning disabilities are similar to symptoms of certain mental health conditions and misdiagnosis may result. Care must be taken here, as the term ‘dual diagnosis’ is not only used in this context, but for other co-existing conditions, namely those who suffer from a mental health condition and misuse a substance, such as alcohol dependency or drug dependency problems.
To examine the difference between learning disabilities and mental health conditions, it is useful to look at definitions of ‘mental health’ and other terms meaning the same, such as:
• mental illness
• mental disorder
• psychiatric disorder
• mental health problem.
According to the Mental Health Foundation (2003), ‘a mental health problem only becomes a serious problem when it interferes with your ability to cope or function on a day-to-day basis or when your behavior becomes a concern for others’.
If this were to be considered in the context of people with learning disabilities, it could be argued that some already have ‘problems that interfere with their ability to cope or function on a day-to-day basis’. Also, the behavior of some people with learning disabilities is certainly of ‘a concern for others’ and this may not be considered abnormal. A definition from the American Psychiatric Association (1994) helps to clarify this further:
‘A mental health problem is a clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that is associated with present distress or disability or with a significantly increased risk of suffering, death, pain, disability or loss of freedom.’
If we consider this definition in simplistic terms, it can be understood that a mental health problem can be said to exist when there is a change in a person’s behavior, thought processes or mood to the extent that day-to-day life is adversely affected. Therefore, mental health problems are usually temporary, as opposed to a learning disability, which is permanent. People acquire a learning disability before, during or shortly after birth, whereas a mental health problem can occur at any time.
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