This article is dedicated to anyone who has ever struggled with their mental health. You are never alone – support is always available. At the end of this article, you’ll find a list of communities and resources that could help.
In the UK, Black men are far more likely to be diagnosed with a severe mental health condition. This is partly due to the misdiagnosis of conditions such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which are often branded as schizophrenia.
A study published in Psychiatry Services revealed that Black men with major depressive disorder (MDD) are significantly more likely to be misdiagnosed with schizophrenia than their white counterparts. Consequently, Black men are four times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act and come into contact with emergency or coercive forms of treatment.
Anxiety, not aggression
Adultification, wherein a child is perceived as older and more mature, is disproportionally imposed on Black children compared to white children. This perception harms how Black men suffering from mental health conditions are treated. For example, when a Black man experiencing mental distress is approached or detained by the police, their anxiety could likely manifest as actions perceived as aggressive.
Kim Heyes led a study that investigated the implications of such treatment.
“When the individual then enters psychiatric services, the fear is once again perceived as aggression – often perpetuated by restraint, forced medication and isolation,” she said. “This inaccurate perception of aggression is a result of negative stereotypes of Black men and omits the fight or flight trauma response that Black and African Caribbean men report experiencing. stemming from a real and legitimate fear of dying in mental health care.”
“Person-centred mental health care must span beyond ethnicity.”
Opening the floodgates
The expectation of hostility from mental health support staff and police plays a major role in delaying help-seeking.
Alongside this, many Black men are raised in environments where emotional vulnerability isn’t encouraged and where mental well-being is rarely discussed. The expectation to “stay strong” becomes a barrier to recognising or admitting that they need support.
Many Black men may hold on to masculine ideals as a way to fight against deteriorating well-being. For example, the idea that gaining financial success will relieve them of emotional distress. This commonly proves to be untrue.
Cultural stigma adds another layer. In some communities, mental illness is associated with shame or viewed as a weakness. Combined with stereotypes that portray Black men as threatening or emotionally subdued, many fear being misunderstood or misdiagnosed.
This concern is not unfounded. As aforementioned, research has shown that Black men are more likely to have their symptoms interpreted through the lens of behavioural risk rather than trauma or distress.
“I learned to keep everything inside. Growing up, nobody ever spoke about ‘mental health conditions,’ you were just expected to get on with it. By the time I realised I needed help, I was already in a difficult place.”
Unfortunately, the experiences of Black men - specifically those detained under the Mental Health Act - have not changed in any meaningful way.
As Alina Haines-Delmont puts it, “it will take some radical re-imagining to re-humanise the detention process and co-create a healthcare system that leads with ‘the most supportive approach’ to bringing health and healing with and for [the Black] community.”
These days, there is a plethora of communities designed to support young Black men struggling with their mental health:
Black Minds Matter UK - https://www.blackmindsmatteruk.com/
Mind UK - https://www.mind.org.uk/
Young Minds - https://www.youngminds.org.uk/
Black Men’s Health - https://blackmenshealth.org.uk/
By Nnenna Ohaka
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