BAME communities twice as likely to suffer from mental health issues – and Covid has made it worse.

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The BAME Community (Black, Asian, Minority, Ethnic) in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area are more than twice as likely to be treated for mental health issues than the rest of the population, a pattern that reflects wider national trends.

According to statistics released by the NHS, from 2016 to 2021 the BAME population accounted for 28.2% of patients being treated for mental health in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, despite only making up 14% percent of the UK population.

A total of 172,272 people were treated for mental health in the area in this period, with 48,605 admissions from the BAME community.

BAME is an umbrella term that covers a wide range of different ethnic groups, and mental health outcomes can vary widely. For example, the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) found that rates of psychosis are particularly high amongst black men, whereas the Chinese community are less likely to have mental health problems than the general population.

Why are the rates so high amongst the BAME community?

A number of factors may contribute to this situation. According to the Mental Health Foundation these include: racism and discrimination that can increase levels of stress; social and economic inequalities such as poverty and homelessness; stigma within communities making it less likely for people to access help; and barriers to getting support such as lack of knowledge, language barriers and financial barriers.

In addition, there is some evidence that the Covid-19 pandemic has made this discrepancy worse according to recent research by the mental health charity, Mind.

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Marcel Vige, Head of Equality Improvement at Mind said: “our survey provides evidence of how people within these groups are also being hit hardest by mental health problems stemming from the economic impact of COVID-19 on areas such as housing and employment.”

The government claims it's committed to improving mental health services in the UK, and has pledged £500 million as part of its mental health recovery plan.

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues covered in this article, you can access help from the NHS via your GP or mental health charities such as Mind.