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Article History

Received: 28 April 2025

Accepted: 22 February 2026

First Online: 18 March 2026

Declarations

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: We have no known conflict of interest to disclose. This scoping review is being conducted by a doctoral candidate as part of a dissertation project at the University of Calgary. While the project operates within the limitations of timelines and feasibility inherent to doctoral research, it is strengthened by the robust expertise and contributions of an exceptional supervisory, committee and advisory team. The co-supervisors and broader supervisory committee exemplify a collective of unparalleled expertise, integrating methodological acumen, specialized knowledge in mental illness and young adults, clinical practice perspectives, and scholarly excellence in participatory research methodologies. In addition to the supervisory team, this review is informed by consultation and advisement from the HEARTS study Co-Researchers, a group of young adults from equity-deserving and equity-owed communities, alongside other key interest holders. Recognizing that the authors of this review are no longer young adults, the inclusion of the HEARTS Co-Researchers ensures that the lived experiences of young adults are authentically represented and integrated into the review process. This collaboration enriches the study by embedding the perspectives of those most directly impacted by the research questions, ensuring the findings remain grounded, relevant, and actionable. The doctoral candidate leading this review is a member of a minoritized group and a clinician with extensive experience in health systems and policy. This unique perspective, combined with the collective strength of the supervisory team and the advisory contributions of the HEARTS Co-Researchers and other experts, creates a highly dynamic and multidisciplinary foundation for this scoping review. Together, these collaborations ensure the review is methodologically rigorous, inclusive, and reflective of real-world complexities.

: Notes: 1 The term mental health-related disabilities (MHRD) is intentionally employed in this study to highlight the specific experiences and challenges associated with mental illnesses. While the broader category of disability could encompass these experiences, we deliberately focus on mental health-related disabilities to foreground their unique intersections with functional impairments, sociocultural factors, environmental barriers, and stigma. This choice reflects the imperative to render visible what is often invisible, concealed, or unobservable within existing frameworks. By addressing these dimensions explicitly, we aim to move beyond abstract or anecdotal understandings and toward an empirically grounded exploration of the mechanisms through which MHRD are experienced, perpetuated, and contested. This approach underscores the necessity of treating MHRD as distinct phenomena that demand specific attention within both research, practice and policy. In adopting MHRD, we acknowledge the literature’s reference to similar phenomena using terms such as invisible disabilities, concealable disabilities, hidden disabilities, psychosocial disabilities, mental illness disabilities, or simply disabilities. By specifying MHRD, we unify these constructs under a single generalist term. Furthermore, while the study focuses on young adults with anxiety and depressive disorders, we recognize that many young adults face significant barriers to accessing mental illness diagnoses. To address this, we will include young adults who self-report anxiety and depression, taking the position that such self-reporting is valid and necessary to ensure the inclusion of those whose experiences may otherwise be overlooked. This approach underscores the deliberate and inclusive nature of our use of MHRD, capturing the nuances of this phenomenon. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The author is an Editorial Board Member/Editor-in-Chief/Associate Editor/Guest Editor for this journal and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests.

: There are no human participants in this article, however, this scoping review is embedded within the larger Helping Enable Access and Remove Barriers To Support (HEARTS) Study for Young Adults with Mental Health-Related Disabilities (Ethics approval REB22-1063_REN2).