Mental health problems among people with a learning disability are often overlooked, underdiagnosed and left untreated due to poor understanding, awareness, evidence in this area and symptoms mistakenly attributed to the person's learning disability.
- Data has shown that people with lower intellectual ability had higher rates of symptoms of common mental health problems (25%) compared to those with average (17.2%) or above-average (13.4%) intellectual functioning.1
- One study found that 54% of people with a learning disability have a mental health problem.2
- Children with learning disabilities are four and a half times more likely to have a mental health problem than children without a learning disability.3
Our 2016 study 'The Fundamental Facts about Mental Health' follows a comprehensive summary of mental health research, providing a unique handbook of key facts and figures, covering all key areas of mental health.
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References
- Raj, D., Stansfeld, S., Weich, S., Stewart, R., McBride, O., Brugha, T., … & Papp, M. (2016). Chapter 13: Comorbidity in mental and physical illness. In S. McManus, P. Bebbington, R. Jenkins, & T. Brugha (Eds.), Mental health and wellbeing in England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014. Leeds: NHS Digital.
- Cooper, S.A., Smiley, E., Morrison, J., Williamson, A., & Allan, L. (2007). Mental ill-health in adults with intellectual disabilities: Prevalence and associated factors. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 190, 27–35.
- Emerson, E., & Hatton, C. (2007). Mental health of children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities in Britain. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 191(6), 493–499.