Early intervention for challenging behaviour in intellectual disability

Abstract

: Background: A complex but frequent issue, challenging conduct among people with intellectual disabilities can be difficult for healthcare providers to diagnose and manage. A behaviour must have been perceived as problematic by another person for it to be classified as challenging behaviour. This means that challenging behaviour is a socially created, dynamic term. As a result, different cultures and environments may have different ideas of what constitutes a challenge. Challenging behaviour can appear as a side effect of mental illness (e.g., self-harm and aggression can be symptoms of depression), it can appear as an out-of-the-ordinary manifestation of a core symptom of a specific disorder (e.g., repetitive skin picking can be a symptom of an underlying obsessive-compulsive disorder), and it can be exacerbated by the symptoms of a mental illness. Some people's problematic behaviour may be caused by a variety of mechanisms. Conclusion: Psychosocial therapies and medication are two methods for controlling difficult behaviour. In cases where there is no documented psychiatric disorder, non-pharmacological therapies are the first line of treatment for aggression, according to a poll of psychiatrists . Interventions reduced problematic behaviour by at least 80% from baseline levels.