Editorial
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/AMHID-04-2017-0011 |
| Pages | 1-1 |
| Date | 03 January 2017 |
| Published date | 03 January 2017 |
| Author | Raistrick W. Turton |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Learning & intellectual disabilities |
Raistrick W. Turton
The four papers in this issue cover a range of diverse issues, yet all touch clearly on a common
theme. Thisis to do with communicationby and with service users. Croninand Peyton, two service
users, give anaccount of their experiences of,and input into, a psychoeducationalevent focussed
on depression. This includes an outline of difficulties faced by people who have intellectual
disabilities (ID) when they turn to “ordinary”health services for help, and advice and guidance on
how they might help themselves. Cronin and Peyton outline a self-help guide that they
have co-authored with others and include an outline and an example of a staying healthy plan.
There is also a URL to download the Mental Health Foundation’sguideFeeling Down: Looking
After My Mental Health.
Shelton et al. describe a case of a young woman who has Ring chromosome 20 syndrome and
epilepsy, and who presented psychotic symptoms following changes to her anti-convulsant
medication that led to an improvement in her epilepsy. The authors discuss the difficulties
encountered in reaching a diagnosis of “alternating psychosis”or “forced normalization”. They
discuss several alternative diagnoses and the difficulty of excluding these when historical case
information does not include the results of definitive tests.
Kildahl et al. open with an outline of the difficulties encountered in diagnosing mental illness in
people who have autism spectrum disorder and follow this with an illustrative case study.
The authors give a description of diagnostic procedures and the ways in which standardised
tools were adapted to suit the circumstances of the service user who could not give his own
account of his experiences. The authors discuss the problems encountered in relying on
information provided by the informants. Medical and other interventions led to an improvement in
presentation, and then the service user could report his symptoms.
Beail gives a brief history of events that led up to the publication of the 2016 report
“Psychological ther apies and people who hav e intellectual disabi lities”by the British
Psychological Society and Royal College of Psychiatrists. This author’s discussion includes
changes in the provision of psychological therapies for people who have ID in Britain, and
developments in research into the effectiveness of these therapies for people who have ID.
A brief description of the report’s contents is woven into the discussion.
DOI 10.1108/AMHID-04-2017-0011 VOL. 11 NO. 1 2017, p.1, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2044-1282
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ADVANCESIN MENTAL HEALTH AND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES
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Editorial
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