Dyslexia Awareness Week, held by the British Dyslexia Association (BDA), aims to raise the profile of those with dyslexia. In our latest blog post, we’re considering misdiagnosis – especially for adults – and the mental health issues that can develop for people, as well as taking inspiration from coping techniques from famous names.
Intelligence isn’t in doubt when it comes to dyslexia
The Top Doctors Medical Dictionary details how it’s a fact that it doesn’t affect intelligence. It’s classed as a specific learning difficulty which stems from a problem in the brain’s language processing, affecting a person’s reading, writing and spelling. You can see below what a page of text to a dyslexic person can look like.
Misdiagnosis can lead to mental health conditions
Many children receive, and rightly so, additional teaching and support for dyslexia. However, past attitudes may not have been as accepting or services may not have been advanced. There are dyslexic adults that have been misdiagnosed and lived with it for many years, and may experience associated mental health conditions such as:
- PTSD;
- Anxiety;
- Depression.
The BDA says that support is essential to enable a society that embraces and promotes neurodiversity. Diagnosis, understanding and management are key to empowering those with dyslexia. But what kind of mental health-related issues might people need support with?
- Coming to terms with having dyslexia;
- Emotional support in order to voice concerns or negative thoughts;
- Helping to build your own support system and self-care plan for everyday life.
Different coping techniques from leading names
Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis was often labelled as ‘thick’ and put in bottom sets at school. However, that didn’t deter him and he remembers deciding early on that he wasn’t going to let dyslexia define him.
Read more about how he overcame his dyslexia here.
It may not be as easy-sounding for some; disallowing something to influence your life, especially when it’s something that’s always with you, is a difficult task.
Some famous names with dyslexia have decided to embrace their dyslexia. Most recently, Lizzie Acker from Season 12 of Channel 4’s Great British Bake Off shared that she was dyslexic and showed her neurodiversity through some of her bakes.
It goes to show that different people have different ways to cope with a similar situation in ways that suits them. Your mental health professional can no doubt tailor their treatment to your needs, in order for you to enjoy the quality of life you deserve.
If you have dyslexia-related mental health concerns, make an appointment with one of our leading psychologists at TopDoctors.co.uk.
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