Health · England
Your mental health and feelings
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This guide is for people in England.
People with learning disabilities can get help with their mental health.
Tell someone if feelings are making life difficult.
You can use words, pictures, signs or another way to communicate.
Tell your health team what has changed for you.
Someone who knows you well can help explain changes.
Ask staff to check your physical health too.
Pain, constipation or medicines may affect how you feel.
Constipation means it is difficult to poo.
Tell staff about upsetting events or losing someone important.
Ask for support that feels safe for you.
Ask your GP or health team about mental health support.
Children and young people can also ask for help at school or college.
Ask for treatment that fits your communication and learning needs.
Ask staff to explain your choices and how treatment might help.
Ask what help you can get while waiting.
Make a plan for what helps and who to contact.
Tell the service if things get worse.
For urgent mental health help, call 111 and choose the mental health option.
You can also ask for an urgent GP appointment.
Call 999 or go to A&E if life is at risk.
Do this if you cannot keep yourself or someone else safe.
What you can do next
Contact your GP or existing health team.
Ask someone you trust to help explain your concerns.
Read how to access NHS mental health services Web pageThis link opens another website.
It may use harder words.
More useful links
- Find routes to NHS mental health support Web page
Understand referrals and access to local services.
- Support a child or young person Web page
NHS information for parents and carers seeking help.
- Get urgent NHS mental health help Web page
Find out what to do when help is needed quickly.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Mental health and learning disabilities
Recognise changes, ask for careful assessment and find mental health treatment adapted to the person’s needs.
Children and adults · England · Local pathways vary
Recognise mental health needs
People with learning disabilities can experience anxiety, depression and other conditions, including bipolar disorder or psychosis. A learning disability is not itself a mental illness. Trauma, bullying, abuse, bereavement and difficult relationships may affect wellbeing. Ask for these experiences to be considered sensitively, without assuming that distress has one particular cause.
Notice changes from the person’s usual self
Explain what has changed, when it began and how daily life is affected. Compare with the person’s own usual communication, sleep, interests and support needs. People with profound and multiple learning disabilities may show distress through movement, expression or withdrawal. Familiar supporters’ observations help, but do not establish a diagnosis.
Check physical health as well
Diagnostic overshadowing means wrongly explaining symptoms as part of someone’s disability, so another problem is missed. Ask clinicians to consider pain, constipation, sleep difficulties, sensory needs and medicine effects alongside mental health. Constipation can cause discomfort and changes in behaviour. Report bowel changes to the GP; do not change medicines yourself.
Find the appropriate service
Start with the GP or an existing health team. Some services, including NHS talking therapies, accept self-referrals. For children and young people, school, college or a health visitor can also help find local support, including children’s mental health services, often called CAMHS. Ask whether specialist learning disability expertise is needed; local arrangements differ.
Make assessment accessible
Ask for extra time, suitable communication aids and a setting the person can manage. Share a communication passport and explain how the person shows discomfort. Include the people they want involved, while respecting privacy. Limited speech must not prevent assessment; people with profound disabilities need an approach suited to their communication and understanding.
Adapt treatment to the person
Treatment may involve psychological therapy, practical support and sometimes medicines. Ask how therapy can use accessible explanations, a suitable pace and support between sessions. Some learning disability psychology services offer adapted cognitive behavioural therapy, counselling and support around trauma or bereavement. Agree personal goals, expected benefits and review arrangements; available approaches vary.
Plan support while waiting
Ask who to contact, when progress will be reviewed and what support is available meanwhile. Keep helpful routines, enjoyable activities and trusted relationships where possible. Tell the service if difficulties worsen. Agree a crisis plan describing early warning signs, helpful responses and contacts. Carers can ask for their own support and training; their help does not replace professional assessment or treatment.
Get urgent help
For urgent mental health help, call NHS 111 and select the mental health option, or request an urgent GP appointment. Use an existing crisis plan where appropriate. Call 999 or go to A&E if life is at risk or you cannot keep yourself or someone else safe.
Words you could use
“Please assess these changes in mental and physical health, listen to the person’s communication, and arrange accessible treatment and support.”
More useful links
- Find routes to NHS mental health support Web page
Understand referrals and access to local services.
- Support a child or young person Web page
NHS information for parents and carers seeking help.
- Get urgent NHS mental health help Web page
Find out what to do when help is needed quickly.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Where the information comes from
Links checked 27 October 2026.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
- NICE NG54: mental health and learning disabilities Web page
Assessment, communication, life experiences, treatment and involvement of family or carers.
- NHS England: clinical care for people with learning disabilities Web pageProfessional guidance
Diagnostic overshadowing, pain, communication and changes from the person’s usual presentation.
- NHS England: constipation information for carers Web page
Constipation can cause discomfort and behavioural changes, which need prompt attention.
- NHS: accessing mental health services Web page
GP referrals, self-referral and routes to appropriate support.
- NHS: supporting a child or young person Web page
Children’s local referral routes and support for parents and carers.
- CLCH NHS: learning disability clinical psychology Web page
Examples of adapted therapies and trauma or bereavement support; this is a local service, not a national referral route.
- NHS: waiting for children’s mental health support Web page
Support while waiting and telling the service when circumstances change.
- NHS: urgent mental health help Web page
Urgent assessment, 111 and emergency routes.