- Section 1 The Subject Matter of and Approach to Psychiatry
- 1.3 Psychiatry as a worldwide public health problem
- 1.4 The history of psychiatry as a medical specialty
- 1.5 Ethics and values
- 1.6 The psychiatrist as a manager
- 1.7 Descriptive phenomenology
- 1.8 Assessment
- 1.9 Diagnosis and classification
- 1.10 From science to practice
- Section 2 The Scientific Basis of Psychiatric Aetiology
- 2.3 The contribution of neurosciences
- 2.4 The contribution of genetics
- 2.5 The contribution of psychological science
- 2.6 The contribution of social sciences
- 2.7 The contribution of epidemiology to psychiatric aetiology
- Section 3 Psychodynamic Contributions to Psychiatry
- Section 4 Clinical Syndromes of Adult Psychiatry
- 4.4 Persistent delusional symptoms and disorders
- 4.5 Mood disorders
- 4.6 Stress-related and adjustment disorders
- 4.7 Anxiety disorders
- Section 5 Psychiatry and Medicine
- Section 6 Treatment Methods in Psychiatry
- 6.2 Somatic treatments
- Section 7 Social Psychiatry and Service Provision
- Section 8 The Psychiatry of Old Age
- Section 9 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- 9.1 General issues
- 9.2 Clinical syndromes
- 9.3 Situations affecting child mental health
- 9.4 The child as witness
- 9.5 Treatment methods for children and adolescents
- Section 10 Intellectual Disability (Mental Retardation)
- 10.1 Classification, diagnosis, psychiatric assessment, and needs assessment
- 10.2 Prevalence of intellectual disabilities and epidemiology of mental ill-health in adults with intellectual disabilities
- 10.3 Aetiology of intellectual disability: general issues and prevention
- 10.4 Syndromes causing intellectual disability
- 10.5 Psychiatric and behaviour disorders among mentally retarded people
- 10.6 Methods of treatment
- 10.7 Special needs of adolescents and elderly people with intellectual disability
- 10.8 Families with a member with intellectual disability and their needs
- 10.9 The planning and provision of psychiatric services for adults with intellectual disability
- Section 11 Forensic Psychiatry
Syndromes causing intellectual disability
- Chapter:
- Syndromes causing intellectual disability
- Author(s):
David M. Clarke
and Shoumitro Deb
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199696758.003.0244
Psychiatrists working with people who have intellectual disability (mental retardation) need expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of associated neuropsychiatric disorders. This entails knowledge of the causes of intellectual disability, and especially knowledge about those syndromal (often genetic) causes that are associated with neuropsychiatric manifestations. Such manifestations include vulnerability to behavioural and emotional disorders, epilepsy, and particular patterns of cognitive strength and weakness. This chapter provides an introduction to some such disorders and a discussion of the concept of behavioural phenotypes. For a detailed account of conditions causing intellectual disability texts such as Jones should be consulted. The concept of behavioural phenotypes is discussed in detail in O’Brien. The genetic aetiologies of intellectual disability include chromosomal abnormalities (trisomy, deletion, translocation, etc), single-gene defects, and the effect of interactions between several genes. The last is thought to account for a substantial proportion of people with mild intellectual disability by setting a ceiling on possible cognitive attainment (life experiences, nutrition, education, and other factors then determining the extent to which potential is fulfilled or thwarted). This chapter discusses the concepts of syndromes and behavioural phenotypes, then describes the clinical features of a number of syndromes that cause intellectual disability. Down syndrome, fragile-X syndrome, sex chromosome anomalies, and foetalalcohol syndrome are described in some detail. This is followed by a briefer alphabetical list of less common conditions.
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- Section 1 The Subject Matter of and Approach to Psychiatry
- 1.3 Psychiatry as a worldwide public health problem
- 1.4 The history of psychiatry as a medical specialty
- 1.5 Ethics and values
- 1.6 The psychiatrist as a manager
- 1.7 Descriptive phenomenology
- 1.8 Assessment
- 1.9 Diagnosis and classification
- 1.10 From science to practice
- Section 2 The Scientific Basis of Psychiatric Aetiology
- 2.3 The contribution of neurosciences
- 2.4 The contribution of genetics
- 2.5 The contribution of psychological science
- 2.6 The contribution of social sciences
- 2.7 The contribution of epidemiology to psychiatric aetiology
- Section 3 Psychodynamic Contributions to Psychiatry
- Section 4 Clinical Syndromes of Adult Psychiatry
- 4.4 Persistent delusional symptoms and disorders
- 4.5 Mood disorders
- 4.6 Stress-related and adjustment disorders
- 4.7 Anxiety disorders
- Section 5 Psychiatry and Medicine
- Section 6 Treatment Methods in Psychiatry
- 6.2 Somatic treatments
- Section 7 Social Psychiatry and Service Provision
- Section 8 The Psychiatry of Old Age
- Section 9 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- 9.1 General issues
- 9.2 Clinical syndromes
- 9.3 Situations affecting child mental health
- 9.4 The child as witness
- 9.5 Treatment methods for children and adolescents
- Section 10 Intellectual Disability (Mental Retardation)
- 10.1 Classification, diagnosis, psychiatric assessment, and needs assessment
- 10.2 Prevalence of intellectual disabilities and epidemiology of mental ill-health in adults with intellectual disabilities
- 10.3 Aetiology of intellectual disability: general issues and prevention
- 10.4 Syndromes causing intellectual disability
- 10.5 Psychiatric and behaviour disorders among mentally retarded people
- 10.6 Methods of treatment
- 10.7 Special needs of adolescents and elderly people with intellectual disability
- 10.8 Families with a member with intellectual disability and their needs
- 10.9 The planning and provision of psychiatric services for adults with intellectual disability
- Section 11 Forensic Psychiatry