Mental Health Injection - will it reach the most disadvantaged?

There has been an injection of £400m to tackle mental health as part of the “No Health without Mental Health” project, inspired by the more holistic approach to health care that has been popular in recent years. On twitter the hashtag #whatstigma encouraged those who have had mental health issues to tweet about it in a show of solidarity and to reduce the stigma attached to mental health.

Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister has stated:
"We need to end the stigma attached to mental illness, to set an example by talking about the issue openly and candidly and ensure everyone can access the support and information they need."

The BAME population is disproportionately affected by mental health issues. Will the government ring-fence any of this money to ensure that BAME people are affected by the improvements to mental health services? There are a number of reasons for the disproportionate number of BAME people who suffer from mental health issues (according to Rethink):

1. Mental illness is more likely in socially-disadvantaged groups
2. Mental illness is more likely in groups who have recently migrated to the UK
3. Communities living in inner cities are more likely to experience mental illness
4. BME groups are more likely to be picked up in a survey than white groups

African Caribbean people are more likely to be diagnosed with psychosis than any other group. According to Rethink, this is because there are fears among people from African Caribbean communities suffering from mental health issues that they will encounter institutional racism and as such there issues go untreated and get worse.

For Asian people the main issue is a cultural difference. Psychiatric care does not take into consideration cultural and religious backgrounds.

There are a number of general barriers to receiving the proper support for dealing with mental health problems once diagnosed, or even before the diagnosis stage:
1. Different approaches to mental illness
2. Cultural differences in seeking help
3. Communication problems
4. Poor access to non-drug treatments
5. Poor risk assessment
6. Lack of BAME mental health staff

These mental health issues will only be exacerbated by the recent cuts to the Refugee Council, the Refugee Integration and Employment Services (RIES), the cuts to legal aid for immigration issues, and the introduction of fees if a person wants to appeal against a refusal to have leave to enter the country. These will be discussed in greater detail below.

BNRRN will be looking for consultation opportunities with the relevant departments to air these issues. This additional budget should present itself as a chance to tackle the problem of mental health among BAME people, who disproportionatley suffer, and also to end the stigma associated with mental health for all groups in society.

This is an excellent booklet from Rethink (click to access download page, it is free!): Moving Forward, Living Life with Mental Health Problems: a guide for black and minority ethnic communities
This is also a great resource site for BME mental health issues: 
http://www.bmementalhealth.org.uk/