scholarly journals Mental health and COVID-19: is the virus racist?

2020 ◽  
Vol 217 (2) ◽  
pp. 405-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anuj Kapilashrami ◽  
Kamaldeep Bhui
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Care Pathways ◽  
Compulsory Admission ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Crisis Care

SummaryCOVID-19 has changed our lives and it appears to be especially harmful for some groups more than others. Black and Asian ethnic minorities are at particular risk and have reported greater mortality and intensive care needs. Mental illnesses are more common among Black and ethnic minorities, as are crisis care pathways including compulsory admission. This editorial sets out what might underlie these two phenomena, explaining how societal structures and disadvantage generate and can escalate inequalities in crises.

Helping Abused Children from Various Minorities in the Greek Context

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S622-S622
Author(s):  
A. Kanellopoulos ◽  
K. Dionysopoulou ◽  
X. Antoniou ◽  
E. Marini ◽  
G. Nikolaidis
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Psychosocial Rehabilitation ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Racial And Ethnic Minorities

IntroductionChildren's abuse and neglect is widely studied as a major risk factor for emotional and behavioural disorders, various somatic and psychiatric problems during adulthood.ObjectiveMental health is fundamental to health. Mental illnesses are real, disabling conditions affecting all populations regardless of race or ethnicity but disparities in mental health services exist for racial and ethnic minorities, and thus, mental illnesses exact a greater toll on their overall health and productivity.AimThe most important aim when working with ethnic minorities is to better understand the roles of culture, race and ethnicity, and overcome obstacles that would keep anyone with mental health problems from seeking or receiving effective treatment.MethodsThe Day Centre “The House of the Child” is a community unit which provides customized clinical mental health services for therapeutic treatment and psychosocial rehabilitation of children victims of abuse, neglect or domestic violence. The Day Centre was founded by the non-profit voluntary organization “THE SMILE OF THE CHILD”. The services are based on the bio-psycho-social model approach and treatment, which aim at early detection, and treatment of possible mental disorders and the overall psychosocial rehabilitation of victims of abuse/neglect and the support of their carers.ResultsBy identifying the many barriers to quality care faced by racial and ethnic minorities, the Day Center provides mental health services also to children who come from minority populations.ConclusionsDifferent case studies highlight challenges and various levels of difficulties in this specific scheme of cooperation aiming to open an interesting dialogue on the topic.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Determinants of Mental Health Care Access in a Tribal District of Central India: Findings from a Health Camp

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roshan Sutar ◽  
Anuja Lahiri ◽  
Sanjeet Diwan ◽  
Parmeshwar Satpathy ◽  
Abhijit Rozatkar
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Nicotine Dependence ◽  
Madhya Pradesh ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Treatment Barriers ◽  
Health Care Needs ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Patient Factors

Abstract Objective Mental health care needs of urban, rural, and tribal regions of India are varied and challenging, which require region-specific approaches. A significant treatment gap calls out for a state-wise introspection of existing service delivery models to cater to the specific mental health needs. In Madhya Pradesh, key findings were noted from a camp conducted in one of the tribal districts. To establish patient-centered services, it is important to understand their mental health care needs. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study within a mental health camp was conducted in the east-central tribal district of Madhya Pradesh by using a semi-structured interview. Statistical Analysis Treatment deficit, pathways to care, and treatment barriers were assessed for correlation with demographic and clinical variables and analyzed by using the Chi-square test and logistic regression method using SPSS version 20. Results Among 113 patients who sought help, treatment deficit was 85% with patient factors contributing 76% predominantly affecting the unmarried group of patients. Common mental illnesses (CMIs) outnumbered severe mental illnesses (SMIs) of which anxiety spectrum disorder contributed the most. SMIs still appear to remain undiagnosed till late in the course of illness. Nicotine dependence was higher in males (p < 0.001), and an increase in the dependence pattern was observed with increasing age (p = 0.001). Conclusion Rising awareness and recognition of CMIs as a common mental health concern while under-recognition of SMIs among tribal communities needs further research. Considering attribution of symptoms to unknown factors, treatment barriers revolving around patient factors, and higher nicotine dependence in males, a timely evaluation of a multitargeted intervention to establish the balance in access to mental health care among the tribal population of Madhya Pradesh is warranted.

scholarly journals Clinical ethnography in severe mental illness: a clinical method to tackle social determinants and structural racism in personalised care

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamaldeep Bhui ◽  
Simon Dein ◽  
Catherine Pope
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Severe Mental Illness ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Clinical Method ◽  
Clinical Ethnography ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
Crisis Care

Ethnic inequalities in the experiences and outcomes of severe mental illness are well established. These include a higher incidence of severe mental illnesses (psychoses), adverse pathways into and through care, including crisis care, police and criminal justice systems involvement, and care under the powers of the Mental Health Act. The situation persists despite awareness and is driven by a mixture of the social determinants of poor health, societal disadvantage and structural racism, as well as conflictual interactions with care systems, which themselves are configured in ways that sustain or deepen these inequalities. Although training and education are often proposed, this is not shown to have sustained effects. Clinical processes (interviewing/assessment/formulation/intervention) need to address systemic influences and improve the cultural precision with which care is delivered, organised and commissioned. We discuss clinical ethnography and present evidence of its value in addressing systemic as well as individual care needs for diverse communities.

Prescriptive Power: Biologism, Biopsychiatry and Drug-centred Psychopharmacology

Somatechnics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 291-309
Author(s):  
Francis Russell
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Cultural Theory ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
False Consciousness ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Biological Ontology ◽  
Health Discourse

This paper looks to make a contribution to the critical project of psychiatrist Joanna Moncrieff, by elucidating her account of ‘drug-centred’ psychiatry, and its relation to critical and cultural theory. Moncrieff's ‘drug-centred’ approach to psychiatry challenges the dominant view of mental illness, and psychopharmacology, as necessitating a strictly biological ontology. Against the mainstream view that mental illnesses have biological causes, and that medications like ‘anti-depressants’ target specific biological abnormalities, Moncrieff looks to connect pharmacotherapy for mental illness to human experience, and to issues of social justice and emancipation. However, Moncrieff's project is complicated by her framing of psychopharmacological politics in classical Marxist notions of ideology and false consciousness. Accordingly, she articulates a political project that would open up psychiatry to the subjugated knowledge of mental health sufferers, whilst also characterising those sufferers as beholden to ideology, and as being effectively without knowledge. Accordingly, in order to contribute to Moncrieff's project, and to help introduce her work to a broader humanities readership, this paper elucidates her account of ‘drug-centred psychiatry’, whilst also connecting her critique of biopsychiatry to notions of biologism, biopolitics, and bio-citizenship. This is done in order to re-describe the subject of mental health discourse, so as to better reveal their capacities and agency. As a result, this paper contends that, once reframed, Moncrieff's work helps us to see value in attending to human experience when considering pharmacotherapy for mental illness.

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