Mental health services should be a place where vulnerable people feel safe, understood, and supported.
But for many neurodivergent people — including autistic people, ADHD people, and people with sensory or communication differences — mental health care can sometimes feel confusing, overwhelming, or even unsafe.
I believe this needs to change.
My name is Paul Swann, and I want to use my lived experience to help improve mental health services across the UK, especially for people who are both neurodivergent and struggling with mental health difficulties.
This is not just an idea to me. It is personal.
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The Problem: Mental Health Services Are Not Always Built for Neurodivergent People
Many mental health services are designed for the general population. But neurodivergent people often experience distress differently.
Someone with autism or ADHD may struggle with:
Sensory overload from noise, lights, smells, or crowded spaces.
Difficulty explaining what they are feeling during a crisis.
Meltdowns being misunderstood as “bad behaviour.”
Trauma triggers being ignored or missed.
Staff not fully understanding autism, ADHD, or communication differences.
A lack of quiet spaces or sensory-safe environments.
Rules and routines that may increase distress instead of reducing it.
This can make a mental health crisis even worse.
When a person is already vulnerable, the environment around them matters. The way staff speak to them matters. The level of understanding matters. The small details matter.
For neurodivergent patients, those details can be the difference between feeling safe and feeling trapped.
Why This Matters to Me
From my own experience, I believe there is a serious gap between mental health services and neurodivergent support.
I have seen how difficult it can be when someone has both mental health needs and neurodivergent needs at the same time.
I have also noticed that many people in mental health settings seem to have autism, ADHD, learning differences, trauma, or sensory difficulties. Yet the services they are placed in are not always designed around those needs.
That is why I believe the UK needs a better model.
Not just a normal mental health service.
Not just an autism service.
But a combined approach.
A service that understands that neurodivergence and mental health are often connected.
My Idea: The Paul Swann Neurodivergent Mental Health Model
I want to help create a patient-led improvement model for mental health services.
The idea is simple:
Mental health services should be redesigned to better support neurodivergent patients using lived experience, sensory awareness, daily feedback, and autism/ADHD-informed care.
This could include:
Better staff training around autism, ADHD, sensory needs, trauma, and communication.
Sensory-friendly rooms and quiet spaces.
Clearer communication between staff and patients.
Personalised care plans for neurodivergent patients.
Better understanding of meltdowns, shutdowns, anxiety, and distress.
Daily patient feedback journals.
A specialist pathway or unit for neurodivergent people in mental health crisis.
More involvement from people with lived experience.
The goal is not to attack the NHS.
The goal is to help improve it.
A Specialist Neurodivergent Mental Health Service
One idea I strongly believe in is the creation of a specialist mental health service or ward for neurodivergent people.
This would be for people who have conditions such as autism or ADHD, alongside mental health struggles such as anxiety, depression, trauma, psychosis, emotional dysregulation, or crisis episodes.
A service like this could be designed differently from a standard mental health ward.
It could include:
Lower sensory stimulation.
Staff trained in neurodivergent communication.
A calmer environment.
Personalised routines.
Better crisis de-escalation.
More patient choice.
Less misunderstanding.
More focus on safety, dignity, and trust.
This kind of service could reduce distress, reduce conflict, and improve recovery.
My Role as a Lived-Experience Contributor
I do not want to just talk about the problem.
I want to help test and improve the solution.
One idea I have is to become a voluntary lived-experience participant in a pilot programme.
For example, I would be willing to take part in a structured 30-day trial where I could:
Experience the service as a neurodivergent patient.
Keep a daily journal.
Record what helps and what does not.
Give honest feedback.
Help identify sensory issues, communication problems, and emotional triggers.
Suggest improvements from a patient perspective.
Work with professionals to improve the model.
This would not be about seeking special treatment.
It would be about using real lived experience to help design a better system.
Patient feedback should not be an afterthought. It should be part of how services are built.
Why Lived Experience Matters
Professionals are important. Doctors, nurses, therapists, support workers, and NHS staff all play vital roles.
But lived experience is also important.
People who have been through the system can often see problems that others miss.
They know what it feels like to be confused, overwhelmed, ignored, misunderstood, or unsafe.
They know what small changes could make a big difference.
A better system should listen to both professionals and patients.
That is why I believe service improvement should be built around partnership.
Not patients versus staff.
Patients and staff working together.
What I Want to Achieve
My goal is to help create a safer and more understanding mental health system for neurodivergent people.
I want to help push for:
Better autism and ADHD awareness in mental health services.
More sensory-friendly environments.
Patient-led feedback systems.
Specialist neurodivergent mental health pathways.
More dignity and understanding for vulnerable patients.
Better crisis care.
Less trauma caused by misunderstanding.
More hope for people who feel failed by the system.
This is bigger than me.
But my lived experience gives me a reason to speak up.
A Message to NHS Leaders, Charities, and Service Improvement Teams
I am open to working with people who want to improve services.
I want to speak with NHS staff, patient experience teams, mental health charities, neurodivergent organisations, researchers, and service improvement leaders.
I believe this idea could become a serious model if it is developed properly.
It would need professional input, safeguarding, research, funding, and careful planning.
But every major change starts with someone saying:
This could be better.
And I believe it can be.
Final Thoughts
Neurodivergent people deserve mental health care that understands them.
They deserve services that do not make their distress worse.
They deserve staff who understand sensory needs, communication differences, trauma, and emotional overload.
They deserve to feel safe.
That is why I want to help build The Paul Swann Neurodivergent Mental Health Model.
Not as a complaint.
Not as an attack.
But as a patient-led movement for better care.
Because mental health services should not just treat people.
They should understand them.