2nd Edition: Diagnosis, Treatment and Rehabilitation in Health Services for Patients with Intellectual Disability and Mental Health Problems

Dear Colleagues,

This new Special Issue will be a continuation of the first edition published from 2020 to 2022 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Data regarding the frequency of the coexistence of intellectual disability and other mental disorders provided by various sources are not consistent due to differences in research methodology and the use of different diagnostic criteria and therapeutic strategies. This problem can affect people throughout childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. The disorders comorbid with intellectual disability include, among others, depression, anxiety disorders, dementia, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, ADHD, and autism. Persons with intellectual disability also present specific comorbidities in their somatic health, such as thyroid diseases, cardiovascular disorders, and endocrinological disorders, which may have non-specific symptoms and affect the patients’ psychological well-being. Recommendations for the treatment of the abovementioned disorders in persons with intellectual disability require the creation of interdisciplinary teams employing various specialists, monitoring both mental and somatic health, and checking the indications, doses, effectiveness, and side effects of drugs. The use of psychopharmacological agents specific to a particular illness is proposed for the treatment of comorbid mental disorders. There is also a need for a wider use of diagnostic questionnaires developed for this group of patients. Some authors also postulate the need to introduce new diagnostic guidelines and criteria. It is also very important to increase the availability of modern methods of pharmacological treatment, including the use of second-generation antipsychotic drugs. We should also introduce methods that use new technologies, such as telemedicine and virtual reality. In this Special Issue we would also like to focus on the treatment of those somatic comorbidities which are specific to intellectual disability and have a high influence on patients’ quality of life.

Prof. Dr. Krzysztof Krysta
Guest Editor

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• intellectual disability
• psychiatric disorders
• comorbidity
• diagnostic guidelines
• treatment recommendations
• health services