Why Black Men with Mental Health Problems are over Represented in England - Essay Example

There have been a variety of efforts made to address these concerns, but these must take into account the people concerned and the communities they come from.There is evidence that statutory mental health services are not always able to accurately detect mental health problems across all minority ethnic groups. Nor are they effective in engaging with members of these groups who require their services, especially at an early stage in the progress of their disorder according to Bhugra and Bahl.The aim of this dissertation is not to focus upon patterns of racial discrimination and racial inequality which exist at present within the mental health field, but rather to examine any inadequacies in care, aftercare and support for black, ethnic minority men and their families and carers and the reasons for these, as well as suggestions for future practice.

This report will also focus upon the high levels of detention of black minority men against their will within mental health facilitates in England, and why this is.In England, black people are more likely to be admitted into psychiatric hospitals or units than the rest of the population under the provisions of the Mental Health Act. The reasons behind this are less to do with a susceptibility to mental problems than “prejudice, misunderstanding, misconceptions and sometimes racism”.

According to the first ever, racial census of inpatient mental health care black people is three times more likely than the remainder of the population of England to be admitted for psychiatric care. Black Mental Health UK has a link to the ‘Count Me In’ mental health and ethnicity census which was carried out by the Healthcare Commission, the Mental Health Act Commission and the National Institute for Mental Health in England, and describes services on 31 March 2005.