Neurodiversity and mental health: How Cubbie's sensory regulation support closes the continuity of care gap
One in five people struggle with their mental health — and too many reach crisis point before getting help
One in five people in England struggle with their mental health. Too many of them only get help once they've reached crisis point — turning up at A&E because there was nowhere else to go. Last year alone, more than 75,000 children attended A&E for a mental health crisis, some as young as six. Over 6,200 waited more than 12 hours. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health found the number of children seeking mental health help at A&E is up 36% since 2019 (BBC). Among adults, over 206,000 people a year now seek help from A&E for a mental health emergency (NHS Alliance).
Cubbie can bridge the gap between crisis and continuity of care
Behind these numbers is a pattern the system keeps missing: mental health support that exists in one setting disappears the moment a person moves into the next. A child gets help at school, then loses it when they leave. Someone is stabilised in hospital, then sent back into a community with no equivalent care. It's this fragmented care — not a lack of good intentions — that keeps pushing people toward crisis.
With mental health disorders among young people in England rising sharply, this raises an urgent question: what’s the missing link between crisis and care? Cubbie can address this gap by ensuring continuity of care throughout the pathway, serving as the missing link within the existing infrastructure.
The link between neurodiversity and mental health
A government-commissioned interim review found that referrals for mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions — particularly ADHD and autism — have surged in recent years, driving up waiting times for assessment and treatment. By the end of 2025, 270,000 people were waiting for an ADHD assessment; by June 2026, 294,792 were waiting for an autism assessment, up 25% in a year (AuDHD UK). Over the same period, anxiety and depression among adults in England has climbed from around 15–16% in the early 1990s to roughly 23% today, with the sharpest rises among young adults.
The connection between neurodiversity and mental health isn't a coincidence. Autistic people and people with ADHD face a significantly higher risk of developing a co-occurring mental health condition — driven by stigma, masking, social exclusion, and difficulty accessing support that actually fits their needs.
There is also growing evidence of the relationship between sensory processing differences among neurodivergent individuals and mental health outcomes. Children and young adults whose sensory needs go unmet are at greater risk of anxiety, low self-esteem, and social difficulties.
New community mental health centres for England
This is why the government's new investment in community mental health support matters. The government has pledged £343 million to fund over 100 new community-based mental health centres and mental health emergency departments over the next 12 months.
The aim is to ease pressure on hospital A&E departments and give people experiencing a mental health crisis or significant distress somewhere to get help locally, on their doorstep — with plans to open dozens of centres in high street locations like banks and libraries.
Why continuity of care is the missing piece
Yet one of the biggest challenges remains closing the gap between settings — ensuring an individual doesn't lose support the moment they move from education, or a mental health centre, into a workplace or the community. What happens when someone moves from one of these centres back into school, into work, into daily life? Without continuity of care, even well-funded new services risk becoming just another setting where a person loses support the moment they step outside it.
This is where Cubbie comes in, offering continuity of care across that journey, and providing the missing link in the infrastructure.
What is Cubbie? A sensory regulation platform for neurodivergent support
Cubbie is a science-backed sensory regulation platform, offering a safe, familiar space where individuals can go to reset, feel calm, and regulate — reducing sensory stress and anxiety so they can recharge and carry on with their day.
Designed as a blank canvas, Cubbie adapts to any environment, providing personalised, occupational therapy-designed sensory regulation support that helps deliver the right support, at the right time, for the right level of need.
Cubbie in the community — inclusive spaces in libraries, shopping and leisure centres
Cubbie is already doing in communities what these new centres are setting out to do: partnering with libraries, shopping centres, and sports and leisure centres to turn busy public spaces into predictable, welcoming and inclusive environments. By combining customised audio-visual tracks and lighting, users can self-regulate and feel ready to participate again in 10 minutes or less.
Cubbie has been shown to reduce violence in acute mental health settings
Healthcare providers are increasingly turning to Cubbie to reduce pressure on A&E departments.
A 12-month study across three adult inpatient wards by the Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust (MPFT) found that Cubbie almost halved the number of violent incidents in one of its acute mental health wards:
Ward 1: violent incidents down 49.9%
Ward 2: violent incidents down 23.2%; self-harm down 10.7%
Ward 3: self-harm incidents down 39.1%
Frontline staff — nurses, OTs, HCAs, ward managers — said Cubbie helped patients feel more in control of their emotions.
Report authors, Megan Beddow, Clinical Research Assistant, and Stephanie Haig, OT, observed: “Cubbie has demonstrated a positive impact on inpatient wards. The number of successful sessions based on pre- and post-emotional regulation ratings indicated that Cubbie is helping patients regulate their emotions.”
The government's investment in community mental health centres is a real and welcome step. But the link between neurodiversity and mental health is only going to keep growing, and buildings alone won't close it — continuity of care will. Cubbie is that continuity: the missing piece that carries the right support with a person from education, into healthcare, and into the community, so help is there before crisis, not just after it.
To read more about how Cubbie helps healthcare settings, click here.
