Does racial discrimination cause mental illness?

Abstract

Different rates of mental illness have been reported in ethnic groups in the UK (Nazroo, 1997). Early work was criticised because of methodological flaws but more rigorous studies have confirmed high community prevalence rates of depression in both South Asian and African-Caribbean populations (Nazroo, 1997), high incidence and prevalence rates of psychosis in African-Caribbean groups (see Bhugra & Cochrane, 2001, for review), and higher rates of suicide in some South Asian groups (Neeleman et al, 1997) compared with the White British population. Similarly high rates have not been reported in the countries of origin of these groups (Hickling & Rodgers-Johnson, 1995; Patel & Gaw, 1996), which has led to a search for possible causes within the UK.

Addressing the Determinants of Positive Mental Health: Concepts, Evidence and Practice

“…Poor mental health is consistently associated with unemployment, less education, low income or material standard of living, in addition to poor physical health and adverse life events (Melzer et al, 2004;Patel, 2005;Petticrew et al, 2005). The experience of racial harassment and perceptions of racial discrimination have also been found to contribute to poor mental health outcomes (Chakraborty & McKenzie, 2002;Aspinall & Jacobson, 2004).…”

Racism, psychosis and common mental disorder among ethnic minority groups in England

“…One possible cause of such stress that has remained largely unexplored is the impact of racism outside mental health services, in particular whether the experience of racism in everyday life may predispose an individual towards mental health problems. While there are several studies which suggest a potential influence for racism on mental health problems (Williams & Hunt, 1997 ;Janssen et al 2003), research in the UK has provided little empirical research evidence exploring associations between experiences of racism and mental ill health (Chakraborty & McKenzie, 2002). Earlier exploration of the impact of selfreported experiences of racial harassment and perceptions of Britain as a 'racist society ', using population-based data on people from ethnic minority groups included in the Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities (FNS), found that those reporting to have experienced some form of physical racial attack had a prevalence of depression almost three times and a prevalence of psychosis almost five times that of people reporting no harassment (Karlsen & Nazroo, 2002), while the prevalence of psychosis was 57 % higher among those who believed that the majority of British employers would discriminate against someone on the grounds of race, religion, culture or ethnicity.…”

Learning disabilities and ethnicity: achieving cultural competence

“…Once racism is embedded within the structures of society, the prejudice of individuals is no longer the main problem: more damaging is the issue of 'institutionally generated inequality'. Direct racial attack is less common than are perceived discrimination in interpersonal communication and inequity in the receipt of services and justice (Chakraborty & McKenzie, 2002). Studies of Asian families that include someone with a learning disability reveal a deprived, isolated group who suffer racial abuse, encounter language barriers and experience significant levels of stress but have little knowledge or understanding of learning disability (Nadirshaw, 1997).…”