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Understanding Children and Young People’s Mental Health

Adolescence – from 12 to 16 years old

Adolescence can be a highly emotionally charged time in an individual’s life and young
people in this age group can swing from feeling very grown up and adult to young and
vulnerable the next, realising that they lack experience to deal with certain situations.
The young person will have many choices to make during this time and may be under
different and perhaps competing pressures from peers, family and school. Changes
in self-confidence and stresses as a result may lead to aggressive, irritable and
sulky behaviours.

Children and young people with learning disabilities

The tolerance levels of some children are lowered due to a learning disability or
condition which can add to their sense of frustration and distress if, for example, the
condition means that they may experience some difficulties in communicating about
their wants and needs. Many children with learning disabilities do not develop their
social and communication skills to the same extent as their peers but they have the
same needs although much less satisfactory ways of expressing these needs and
getting them met.

Children and young people may have additional limitations or difficulties which arise
directly or indirectly from conditions associated with their learning disability or other
impairments including, for example, autism, sensory impairment and epilepsy. As
a result, certain types of behaviours are more likely to occur in association with
medical conditions or disabilities.

Examples include:

• Sensory processing disorders may mean that some children can be
adversely affected by sounds, smells or noises

• An inability to communicate verbally may mean the child has no other way
of expressing emotions other than through behaviours

• Difficulties at school for children with specific learning difficulties may
lead to behaviour changes if the correct support is not made available

• Behaviour that challenges can also be a sign that something is wrong,
like pain or discomfort, that the child or young person cannot express in
another way

• A particular condition, illness or disability may mean that the child or young
person is less able to understand or express their emotions and feelings.
In an autistic child for example, this could mean that symptoms of anxiety
or distress may go unrecognised.

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