Psychiatry: Research scotches racial myth

People from ethnic minorities are more likely to have mental health problems than previously suspected, but less likely to have them diagnosed or treated, it was claimed in a study yesterday.

But previous claims that Caribbean men are at greater risk than white men of suffering from severe mental health problems such as schizophrenia and psychoses are untrue, even though they are five times more likely to be hospitalised for these conditions, according to the research.

Dr James Nazroo, of the Policy Studies Institute, found the rate of psychosis among Caribbean men was no greater than among white men, contradicting previous studies which estimated the rate was between three and five times higher. Dr Nazroo claims that because Caribbean men are traditionally considered to be at higher risk of severe mental illness, they are automatically channelled into psychiatric hospital care rather than being given other options such as therapy

The report, Ethnicity and Mental Health, based on more than 8,000 interviews with Caribbeans, Asians and whites, found Caribbeans had the highest rate of mental illness, along with Irish and other minority whites. Chinese people had the lowest.