The Politics of Mental Health: Gender, Race and Identity

To what extent does our position in society affect our mental health? How does structural oppression - racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia and more - affect mental health? What do we miss out on when we don't consider the specific ways in which who we are affects how we feel?

We can answer some of these questions already. We know that people of Afro-Caribbean heritage are reported to have 9 times higher risk for a diagnosis of schizophrenia than white populations (1), and are more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act (2). We know that when compared to white women, twice as many South Asian women are diagnosed with anxiety and depression (3). We know that men are more likely than women to die from suicide (4). We know that culture influences mental health, and can place barriers to mental health care for certain groups (3).

The Gender Equity Campaign (part of UCL Student's for Global Health) looks at the way gender, and other intersecting oppressions, affects health. To start the new year, we want to consider the political nature of mental health, and derail dominant narratives about who is affected by mental health problems, how and why.

While this event could cover infinite perspectives, it's important to note that we will not have time to cover everything - however, there is the possibility of developing this event into a series. We will have a Q&A section at the end of the talk, where opinions and perspectives from the audience can be heard.

The three wonderful speakers for this event are: Leah Francis, Ayesha Ahmad and Akeela Ahmed

Additional information will be posted on this event, so click interested to keep updated!

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References:
1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16938150
2 http://www.nhsconfed.org/~/media/Confederation/Files/Publications/Documents/MHN%20key%20facts%20and%20trends%20factsheet_Fs1356_3_WEB.pdf
3 http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/11/e012337.full?keytype=ref&ijkey=KzZIVwHTKfKCm2L
4 https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/statistics/mental-health-statistics-men-and-women