Meeting the mental health needs of a young person with an intellectual disability: a case study

Abstract

Young people with intellectual disabilities are at greater risk of developing mental health issues. However, their mental health needs are often not recognised and therefore remain untreated. This article discusses a case study concerning a young man whose mental health needs were first noted in adolescence, and describes his experiences of accessing appropriate services and interventions. Community-based services have provided treatment and support, enabling him to continue living with his family.The case study represents one individual's experiences but highlights issues that are relevant to other young service-users, service providers and professional practitioners. Meeting the mental health needs of a young person with intellectual disability: A case study Introduction.Young people with intellectual disabilities are at increased risk of experiencing mental health issues (Mazza et al., 2019;Buckley et al., 2020), and can manifest any of the complete range of psychiatric disorders (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2016). However, although adolescents with intellectual disabilities may have significant mental health needs which affect their functional abilities, these are often not identified and thus remain untreated (Hassiotis and Turk, 2012). Explanations for not identifying such mental health needs include: inadequate screening and detection; reduced access to mental health services; the phenomenon of 'diagnostic overshadowing,' whereby mental health symptoms

Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in an Adolescent with Intellectual Disability

“…The results of a survey from 2001 found those aged 5-15 at an overall OCD prevalence of 0.25% [ 3 ]. Furthermore, it revealed that OCD rarely presents in young children; however, the onset of symptoms is generally during adolescence [ 3 , 4 ]. Diagnosing is further challenged by the difficulty of assessing obsessions with varying genetic risk factors and pediatric presentations.…”