Strong social, community and educational involvement is key for the mental health of people who have Down syndrome.
According to Phillip Dodd, a consultant psychiatrist at St Michael’s House in Coolock, Dublin, and clinical senior lecturer in Trinity College, people with intellectual disabilities are more prone to experience mental health problems in later years.
From the age of 55 there are more people with Down syndrome who have Alzheimer’s disease than those who don’t.
There also tends to be a high incidence of obsessive compulsive disorder and depression. Dodd’s work involves trying to build resilience to these problems.
“Significant life events present our mental health with challenges,” says Dodd. “The death of a family member living at home can cause quite significant bereavement.”
Dodd also cites the death of a paid carer or a sibling leaving home as other life changes that can have an impact on mental health. But the effects of these events can be lessened if the person with Down syndrome has a vibrant social and community life and, in the case of a loved one leaving the household, an understanding of the situation.
When Michael Gannon’s sister Jenny and brother Eoin left home, his mother May felt that it was important to fully explain to her son the transition taking place.
“I think sometimes we assume people with Down syndrome know more than they might know,” she says. “People talk about going to college but they don’t explain specifically what that means.”
In terms of bereavement, in her work as a counsellor May has found that the grieving process may be delayed in people with Down syndrome as the full effects of the death are fully recognised in daily life.
“They can have delayed grieving – after six months – when the implications hit them, then they show signs of stress,” she adds.
The psychiatrists at St Michael’s House believe that individual day service supports for people with intellectual disability who they work with is important to provide the care they need, rather than group sessions.
Dodd also believes that the next step in the development of the life of a person with Down syndrome is their full integration into society.
“As a society we need to have a more positive attitude to disability in general,” he says.
“People would be much more positive about getting involved with people with disabilities if this was to happen.”