Seeing as it is World Mental Health Day today, with its theme “Depression: a Global Crisis”, I thought that it would be appropriate to blog on psychosocial rather than physical interventions; particularly as persistent non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) can result in heightened anxiety, stress and depression. Furthermore, there is an increasing body of evidence that psychosocial risk [read the full story…]
Mental health problems amongst people with learning disabilities have been found to be more prevalent than amongst the general population, although estimates of prevalence rates vary. The authors of this paper were keen to consider whether the recovery approach to mental illness was applicable to people with learning disabilities and mental health needs. The origin [read the full story…]
In 2002, the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities produced a landmark report on the issue of mental health and emotional well-being in young people with learning disabilities ‘Count Us In’, which looked at ways of supporting young people to be emotionally strong, through education, support, friendships and advocacy. The report followed a year long [read the full story…]
Yesterday, we posted about the increasing longevity of people with learning disabilities and the potential for problems with sleep disturbance in this group. Today, we look at a review of the current evidence relating to the age related needs of these older adults who may be at increased risk of age-related disorders like dementia and [read the full story…]
We posted last year about a review of the literature on the effectiveness of psychotherapy with people with learning disabilities which suggested that there was evidence that it could be moderately effective. However, the authors urged some caution as the studies they reviews did not include any randomised controlled trials. This current review summarises the [read the full story…]
People with learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorders may also have mental health problems. There is little in the literature on the mental health needs of such adults. The researchers in this study were interested in developing the evidence base to enable a clearer understanding of the kinds of service responses that might be needed. [read the full story…]
The PAS-ADD (Psychiatric Assessment Schedule for Adults with a Developmental Disability) checklist is a 25 item questionnaire which uses non technical language and was designed to be used by support staff and families. The thinking was that it was these groups of people who spent the most time with the disabled person and so would [read the full story…]
Erotomania, sometimes known as ‘de Clerambault’s syndrome’ is a rare disorder, classified under the group of delusional disorders, where a person wrongly believes another person is in love with them. The object of the delusion is often a person of higher social status. The person with the disorder will make advances to the object of [read the full story…]
The use of case studies to illustrate learning and to improve clinical practice is an established method. This case study of a woman with learning disabilities presenting with polycystic ovary syndrome is presented by the authors to explore mental health symptoms associated with the condition. Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition that affects the ovaries [read the full story…]
Rates of mental illness in adolescents with learning disabilities have been reported as higher than those expected in adolescents without learining disabilities. This study set out to look at the prevalence and predictors of mental health needs and service use in adolescents with learning disabilities. They researchers worked with a service-based sample of 75 young [read the full story…]
