Mental health services and young people with intellectual disability: is it time to do better?

Background: There is evidence that the mental health needs of children with disabilities are inadequate. The aim of the present study was to determine the extent of specialist health service use during adolescence by a group of individuals with intellectual disability (ID) and mental health problems.

Methods: The study population consisted of 80 young people with ID, who were examined in childhood and adolescence for psychiatric and behaviour disorder. These young people were interviewed again in early adult life for the presence of psychiatric and behaviour disorder. Evaluation questionnaires were used during the follow-up study to assess service use from adolescence.

Results: The key finding was that the great majority (64%) of subjects with persistent challenging behaviour from childhood into adult life and those with an established childhood psychiatric disorder received no specialist mental health care.

Conclusions: The development of mental health services for this vulnerable group with complex psychiatric and behaviour disorders has been poor for a number of reasons, including lack of recognition at the primary care level and insufficient numbers of trained professionals within specialist services.