Children and young people with learning disabilities: understanding their mental health – an information pack
Extract from Summary Version: Research demonstrates that an estimated 25-40% of people with learning disabilities have mental health problems. Evidence compiled by the Public Health Observatory for Learning Disability shows the following:
- A prevalence rate of 3% for schizophrenia amongst people with learning disabilities (three times greater than for the general population), with higher rates for people of South Asian origin
- Levels of anxiety and depression are similar to those of the general population (though higher in people with Down's syndrome).
- The prevalence rate of a diagnosable psychiatric disorder is 36% in children and adolescents with learning disabilities, as opposed to 8% in those who do not have a learning disability.
Mental health problems may be worsened for those with greater support needs, particularly if they are unable to communicate about their feelings or communicate their distress (it may result in this behaviour mistakenly being seen to be challenging).
As a result, changes in emotional wellbeing in children and adults with high support needs may easily be overlooked by those who care for them, particularly if they have high levels of medical needs.
Research by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities clearly identified that people with profound and multiple learning disabilities do experience mental health problems, often for reasons similar to those of the general population.
However, identifying the signs and symptoms that indicate changes in the emotional and mental wellbeing of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities takes longer, and it is often family members who are best-placed to identify such changes.
Some key factors that often contribute to a change in emotional well-being include physical health, loss and bereavement (this could be a change of support or bus driver who takes the child to school, as well as the loss of a family member), change and transition to adulthood.
Summary Version:
Information Pack: http://www.youngminds.org.uk/assets/0001/0610/children-and-young-people.pdf
