What Does IDD Stand For In Mental Health- Here's Everything You Need To Know About This Disability

Mike Richins

When parents discover that their child has a developmental disability like IDD, they become extremely frustrated. Honestly, IDD is not the end of anything. It is simply a disability that can be avoided if proper precautions are taken.

What does IDD stand for in mental health? IDD, or intellectual and developmental disabilities, refers to a variety of separate intellectual or mental conditions. It usually begins at a young age and lasts for a long time if left untreated.

There are several signs and symptoms that can help you determine whether or not a child has IDD. Among them, 3 major issues are down syndrome, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FSAD), and fragile X syndrome.

What Does IDD Stand For In Mental Health

IDD simply stands for intellectual and developmental disabilities. Its condition is comprised of a variety of severe, chronic, physical, or emotional disabilities. Thus, it is common for these conditions to affect multiple body parts or systems simultaneously.

It mostly appears during early childhood development and persists throughout a person's lifetime. However, IDD can begin at any point in one's life, up until the end of adolescence. According to some reports, the most vulnerable age group is 18 to 22.

Severe limitations in cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior characterize the condition. The term "intellectual and developmental disabilities" (IDD) is frequently used to describe the co-occurrence of both conditions.

Common Symptoms of IDD

Here are some of the common signs and symptoms that can help you understand this IDD problem.

• They have mobility issues and struggle to stand, crawl, or walk
• Find it hard to remember things
• Have trouble understanding social rules
• Have trouble solving problems

What Life Activities Are Most Affected by IDD?

As you know IDDs affect multiple functions including cognitive and adaptive. So in the same manner it also affects

• Learning
• Adopting
• Socializing

That is because it is a dysfunction of the nervous system and mostly affects intelligence. So those who have IDD can not function appropriately. He or she has a difficult time learning new things.

For instance, a child may have difficulty with language at a very young age; they may even have difficulty pronouncing words or have a speech problem.

He also struggles with social skills such as making friends, communicating with people, and participating in social activities. It ultimately creates challenges for him to lead his own life.

What Are The Major Causes Of Intellectual Disability?

The root cause of this is brain dysfunction. This condition can be caused by a variety of factors. People with IDD have been observed to struggle in some way with brain development.

Either it occurs prior to conception, or during labor, or it may also occur after birth. So hard to tell the exact time.

Anyway, down syndrome, FASD, and fragile X syndrome are the three main known causes of intellectual disability. 

• Down Syndrome

Nondisjunction, a type of cell division error, is typically the cause of down syndrome. Although Down syndrome is essentially a chromosomal dysfunction, the exact cause of the condition is unknown. It indicates that the question is why the extra chromosome doesn't work properly and why the egg or sperm fails.

• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)

In pregnancy, FASD can be caused by alcohol passing through the placenta from a mother to her unborn child. Due to its inability to process alcohol well, your baby's body can store alcohol for a long time.

In the first trimester of pregnancy, alcohol consumption can cause a number of extremely serious problems. It can lead to defects in an unborn child's central nervous system, bones, heart, and other organs, including the face and facial features.

As you can see, it takes place when the baby is around the key development age.

• Fragile X Syndrome

It's a little challenging to comprehend fragile X syndrome. Parents can pass on fragile X syndrome to their offspring. Fragile X syndrome is caused by a mutation in a gene called "FMR1" that results from an expansion of a DNA region known as the "CGG triplet repeat."

Normal repetition rates range from five to forty times. However, in those with fragile X syndrome, they exceed 200 times. That leads to dysfunction, which leaves the infant vulnerable.

When Do The Majority Of The Problems Occur?

As previously stated, it is difficult to predict when this will occur. However, it is related to the birth stage, whether it is during pregnancy, during birth, or after birth.  The reason for this is that the infant is extremely vulnerable at this time. A minor injury can lead to more serious problems for them.

• Problems during pregnancy: When a pregnant woman uses drugs, alcohol, or any unpleasant medication, the baby's developing brain is harmed, which can result in intellectual disability.

In addition to using drugs, it has also been reported that exposure to a chemically toxic environment can cause these problems.

• Problem During Birth: Prematurity and being underweight are two factors that can cause problems at birth. Intellectual disabilities may result from birth complications like brief oxygen deprivation or birth injuries.
• Problems after birth: There are a number of pediatric illnesses that seem fairly common, but when they strike very young, they cause the most damage.

Chickenpox, the common cold, and simple whooping cough can all result in meningitis, which can seriously harm the brain. And once the development of the brain is harmed, the entire nervous system fails.

Is It Possible To Prevent Intellectual Developmental Disabilities (IDD)?

Yes, it is possible to prevent IDD, but the catch is that you must start your efforts in early childhood. If you begin treatment after reaching adulthood, you won't see results right away.

However, there are other reasons a child might develop IDD due to several reasons and diseases.

●  Big Six Disease

There are six diseases that have the potential to damage the brain. For example,

1. Mumps
2. Measles
3. whooping cough/pertussis
4. Hib infection
5. chicken pox/varicella
6. pneumococcal infection

You must ensure that your children are well protected from this as a parent. All of these diseases have vaccines and medicines that should be given to children at a young age. Don't pass it up.

●  Unwanted Injuries

Large head injuries could damage the brain. And IDD may result from the injury. Therefore, it is crucial to use proper safety precautions, such as headgear when riding, driving, or playing.

Don't leave your baby unattended because they could sustain serious injuries from falling from a chair or bed.

● Poisonous and Toxic Environment

As we mentioned earlier, poisonous products can be the cause of your kids' brain damage.  There are a number of hazardous household products that you should avoid.

For instance, the air freshener we use contains formaldehyde and petroleum distillates, both of which are very unhealthy. Other contaminants include diesel exhaust, chlorinated solvents, lead, mercury, ammonia, and others.

●  Medicine

There are several types of medications that contain salicylate (aspirin), chlorpromazine, and fluphenazine, which can easily affect the brain when the dose is not adjusted for the parties' age.

Benzodiazepines, antidepressants, and ADHD drugs are also responsible for these issues. So be cautious when using these medications.

FAQs

Here are a few common questions regarding intellectual and developmental disabilities. Hope it will give you more insights regarding this problem.

Q: Which three syndromes related to intellectual disability are most prevalent?

Although there are many different kinds of intellectual disabilities, the most prevalent ones are Down syndrome, FASD, and fragile X syndrome.

Aside from that, genetic conditions, birth defects, and infections are all potential causes of this serious problem.

Q: How do you identify an intellectual disability?

There are many ways to identify whether one has an IDD or not. It is typically possible to determine whether an individual has an intellectual disability based on his or her performance on an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test.

However, most people comprehend this by examining the common signs and symptoms. For example, their mobility issues, difficulty speaking, and other issues.

Q: What happens to people with IDDs as they get older?

As a person ages, his capacity for learning drastically declines. Their recall ability begins to decline, and the same is true of their capacity for imagination. Even the simplest calculations are beyond their capacity.

Moreover, they lose people's names frequently. At some point, it becomes difficult to live by himself. They consistently required assistance to get by in life.

Final Words

Hope now you got your answer regarding the question, what does IDD stand for in mental health?

IDD has always been vulnerable; statistics show that 1% to 3% of the global population is affected by this intellectual developmental disability. There are numerous causes for this problem, but none of them are inevitable—except one or two.

Mothers have the most responsibility to save their children from IDD because a significant number of cases only result from maternal negligence.

Anyway, this disability is preventable, but you have to start early and consult a professional or specialist until it's prevented.