Learning disability and mental health

According to the charity Mencap, people with a learning disability tend to take longer to learn and may need support to develop new skills, understand complicated information and interact with new people.

Learning disabilities and mental health conditions are not the same thing. A learning disability affects someone for their whole life, but mental health problems can start to affect anyone at any time and can be temporary.

People with a mental health condition can access treatment to recover and get better, but learning disabilities are different. People with a learning disability can access support to help them live independent lives, but they will never ‘recover’ from their learning disability – they will always have it.

Everyone has mental health – and anyone can experience a mental health problem. Some people have both a learning disability and a mental health condition, but they don’t always go together.

Why are people with a learning disability more likely to experience poor mental health?

We don’t know exactly why people with a learning disability are more likely to experience poor mental health.

For some people, there’s a biological link – for example, if pain or poor physical health linked to their learning disability affects their wellbeing. Some people take medication that affects their mental health, and some genetic conditions that cause learning disabilities are linked to specific mental health problems too.

In our posts about the causes of depression, we talked about how difficult childhood experiences and life events can affect someone’s mental health. People with a learning disability may be more likely to experience negative life events, including things like bullying and poverty .

People with a learning disability also face a lot of stigma and discrimination. When someone is not given equal opportunities, or often gets left out, it might affect the way they see and think about themselves and harm their mental health.

It can also be harder for people with a learning disability to access things like social support or ways of managing difficult thoughts, feelings, and experiences. This means that difficult and upsetting events can often have an even bigger impact on someone with a learning disability than someone without.

Mental health support for people with a learning disability

It’s important that all of us (including friends and family members, as well as medical professionals) try not to assume symptoms are because of someone’s learning disability and to think about the person’s mental health too.

Because people with a learning disability can find it harder to get mental health support, mental health services and learning disability services often need to work together to understand someone’s symptoms.

There are lots of online resources for people with a learning disability and for professionals who support people with a learning disability.

Resources for people with a learning disability

What is mental health? Mencap Easy Read webpage

How to tell if someone is struggling with their mental health Mencap Easy Read webpage

How to be a good listener Mencap Easy Read webpage

The importance of self-care Mencap webpage and more information about the five ways to wellbeing from Best For You

Feeling Down: an easy read, interactive guide to looking after your mental health from the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities

A PDF wellbeing journal for people with a learning disability on the Skills For Care website

Guide to Good Mental Health, an Easy Read guide from Learning Disability Wales, with lots of general information as well as information about services in Wales

Resources for professionals who work with people with a learning disability

Learning Disabilities: IAPT Positive Practice Guide from the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities

An information pack about children and young people with learning disabilities and mental health on the Mental Health Foundation website

Resources to help adult social care staff talk to people with a leaning disability about their everyday mental health from Skills For Care.

Over-medication and STOMP

Sometimes, medications designed to help people with a mental health condition (or designed to help with sleep or epilepsy) are given to people with a learning disability (or autism) when they don’t have the relevant health condition. When these medications aren’t prescribed correctly, they can make people unwell.

A big national project called STOMP has been set up to make sure people have the right information about medication (and alternatives). STOMP will help to make sure that people get the right help when they need it, which might include other support as well as or instead of medication. The NHS website has an easy read leaflet about STOMP.

The Challenging Behaviour Foundation has put together information about medication for family carers of people with a learning disability, autism, or both. Their medication pathway is designed to help family carers make sure that their relative only takes the medication they need (and that they take medication safely).