Social services for people with mental health and mental retardation challenges may be provided by the same agency. Both types of issues fall under the broad spectrum of health concerns. It is possible for a person with an intellectual disability to be diagnosed with a mental illness as well.

Community services for adults and children may be offered by the same social agency. Each organization involved in the field of mental health and mental retardation has its own intake process to determine whether an individual meets its criteria to obtain services. Once this process has been completed, a treatment plan will be developed to meet the client’s needs.

An individual who meets the criteria for mental retardation has an intellectual capacity which is lower than average. The condition may be present at birth or present later as the result of illness or an injury. The affected individual will have some level of impaired cognitive functioning for life.

Mental illness can occur at any stage in life and is not considered to be a permanent condition. With treatment, a person who has a personality, mood, anxiety or psychotic disorder can experience relief from his or her symptoms. Other symptoms of mental illness include avoidant or paranoid behaviors.

Assistance for mental health and mental retardation issues may be offered by a number of healthcare workers. The initial diagnosis of a mental illness may be made by a psychologist or a psychiatrist. In the case of mental retardation, a clinical psychologist may make this determination after conducting a series of tests to measure general intelligence and the individual’s problem-solving processing speed.

Once the diagnosis has been made, the goal of people working in the field of mental health and mental retardation should be to identify appropriate treatment options. If the diagnosis is for a mental illness with no retardation present, the client may be referred for counseling. Depending on the diagnosis, medications may be prescribed by a doctor to keep the symptoms of the disorder at bay.

In a case where mental health and mental retardation issues are present at the same time, treatment will be offered for the mental health issue. The therapist must consider that the client will not have the same capacity to understand his or her condition as an individual of normal intelligence. Medications may be prescribed by a physician as part of the treatment process as well.