Scottish Mental Health Service for Deaf People

Question 1

How many deaf and hard of hearing people are there in the UK?

Answer 1

12 million

Question 2

why do you think we need deaf and mental health services?

Answer 2

• higher rates of depression or anxiety
• difficulty around diagnosis of condition or assessment of needs
• often misdiagnosed as learning disability
• deaf people have higher rates of common mental health problem with complex problems
• more likely to be bullied, isolated from family, drug and alcogol misuse, isolation/loneliness.
• deaf people struggle to access generic services, missed and mis-diagnosis, inappropriate treatment, prolonged inpatient treatment.