Hi ,

Of course the racism faced by so many people in the UK damages their mental health, but when they seek support, our system often fails them. That's why, for today's World Mental Health Day, we're publishing a new report with BLAM looking at how racial trauma feeds into our mental health system, how the system fails to address it, and how we can move towards a more equitable mental health system.

We know that racism isn't just isolated acts of discrimination; it's a pervasive force in the UK that can shape every part of life. It intersects with and compounds the UK's inequality crisis; our housing, employment, education, health, safety and more are shaped by it. That persistent exposure to racism causes trauma, contributing to and worsening poor mental health, and is a public health emergency.

But the way our system deals with that public health emergency makes the problem much worse. Black people are 40% more likely to access mental health care through the criminal justice system, and 3.5 times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act. This has been known for a very long time; in the aftermath of the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, the Macpherson report made recommendations about how our systems treat racialised people in 1999 that still have not been properly implemented.

As well as working to uproot structural racism and ending discrimination, our mental health systems can do a lot better. In the report, we looked into systems that could make a difference: shifting away from race-neutral therapy towards racial wellness therapies and community-led approaches. Evidence from BLAM's Zuri Therapy has shown how these approaches can make a big difference to participants' understanding and processing of unequal structures that influence their lives and mental health.

With this report, we're asking policy-makers, healthcare practitioners, and communities to imagine a mental health system that is grounded in anti-racism, equity, and transformative justice. This is not just about reforming current practices; it's about rebuilding systems of care that genuinely heal and empower us. 

Profs Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson join Prof Danny Dorling and Matthew Taylor on 11 October (tomorrow) for the University of York's open lecture on whether we're making progress on tackling inequality. Join them at 6:30pm at the University of York's Spring Lane Building.

What areas of inequality doesn't the media cover enough? What would you like our next report to look at?

Thanks to everyone who votes! The results will be reported next week.

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