Outline some of the reasons why different social groups appear to have different rates of mental illness?
In general, people from black and minority ethnic groups living in the UK are more likely to be diagnosed with mental health problems.
These differences may be explained by a number of factors, including poverty and racism. They may also be because mainstream mental health services often fail to understand or provide services that are acceptable and accessible to non-white British communities and meet their particular cultural and other needs.
Irish people living in the UK have much higher hospital admission rates for mental health problems than other ethnic groups. In particular they have higher rates of depression and alcohol problems and are at greater risk of suicide. These higher rates may, in part, be caused by social disadvantage among Irish people in the UK, including poor housing and social isolation.
African Caribbean people living in the UK have lower rates of common mental disorders than other ethnic groups but are more likely to be diagnosed with severe mental illness. African Caribbean people are three to five times more likely than any other group to be diagnosed and admitted to hospital for schizophrenia. However, most of the research in this area has been based on service use statistics. Some research suggests that the actual numbers of African Caribbean people with schizophrenia is much lower than originally thought.
The statistics on the numbers of Asian people in the United Kingdom with mental health problems are inconsistent, although it has been suggested that mental health problems are often unrecognised or not diagnosed in this ethnic group. Asian people have better rates of recovery from schizophrenia, which may be linked to the level of family support.
Suicide is low among Asian men and older people, but high in young Asian women compared with Research has suggested that Western approaches to mental health treatment are often unsuitable and culturally inappropriate to the needs of Asian communities. Asian people tend to view the individual in a holistic way, as physical, emotional, mental and spiritual being other ethnic groups. Indian men have a high rate of alcohol related problems
There is very little knowledge of the extent of mental health problems in the Chinese community. It has been suggested that the close-knit family structure of the Chinese community provides strong support for its members. While this may be beneficial, it may generate feelings of guilt and shame, resulting in people feeling stigmatised and unable to seek help.