Effectiveness of Behavioural Therapy for Children with Mental Disabilities in the Current Social Context

Abstract

Introduction: As is well known, people with intellectual disabilities, especially children, face
significant barriers to accessing services in general. The aim of this article is to analyse the statistical
results that currently exist (if these statistics do not exist, they should be generated in collaboration with
the relevant state institutions), concerning the access of people with disabilities to all social services,
and what is the impact of the social environment on the mental state of this study group, with or without
the presence of psychotherapy. Method: The statistical databases of the relevant state institutions
(DGASPC, INS, UNICEF) were searched in order to establish the trend (upward or downward) of the
number of people with intellectual disabilities, to see what percentage of them receive appropriate
treatment and to what extent the cognitive behavioural therapies applied help to improve the mental
state of people with intellectual disabilities, especially children. Results: This analysis includes
statistical results covering the period 2012-2022, generated by DGASPC, INS, UNICEF. Discussion
and conclusions: Although the legislative prerequisites have been created (partially, we would say) for
the state to provide the necessary assistance to this group of patients, studies carried out by independent
agencies and bodies suggest that there is still, at institutional and mass population level, a significant
resistance of state institutions to patients’ requests for medical and psychological services. The
application of behavioural therapies to children with disabilities has measurable positive effects and
leads to improvements in symptoms specific to each disability severity group. Unfortunately, the
limited involvement of state institutions whose role is to protect this group of vulnerable people is
offsetting the progress of individual psychotherapy, especially in terms of educating those involved in
providing services (any services) to people with disabilities.