Blott, J. (2026). Ensuring inclusive mental health care for deaf patients. The Lancet Psychiatry, 13(4), 275. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(26)00066-0
On New Year’s Day, 2023, 25-year-old Imogen Nunn died by suicide. Nunn candidly shared her experiences of deafness and mental health problems. An inquest revealed that long-standing issues in providing accessible mental health care, compounded by a national shortage of British Sign Language interpreters, contributed to Nunn’s death. Her case is a reminder of an overlooked crisis in mental health services: the poor provision of care built on accessible communication needs. Deaf people experience depression and anxiety more frequently than their hearing peers. The early-life stress of the inability to communicate with caregivers contributes to earlier manifestations of mental health problems. Discrimination, internalised oppression, and social exclusion introduce unique challenges and place deaf people at an enormous disadvantage in terms of access to mental health care. Yet, health-care systems are woefully unprepared.