Visibly black people of African and African-Caribbean descent (black people) are 2-5 times more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia and other psychoses than their counterparts from other ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom. However, the symptomology of psychotic illnesses and dissociative experiences are difficult to differentiate. Interestingly, black people detained under the Mental Health Act are more likely to give perceived racism as the cause of their emotional distress than their counterparts from other ethnic groups, but there is very little indication in the literature as to how perceived racism might exert its effect on black people's mental health.
Journal Article, To determine and compare levels of satisfaction with mental healthcare between patients from different ethnic groups in a three-centre study of first-onset psychosis. Logistic regression modelling (adjusting for age, gender, social class, diagnostic category and compulsion) showed that black Caribbean patients did not believe that they were receiving the right treatment and were less satisfied with medication than white patients. Black African patients were less satisfied with non-pharmacological treatments than white patients. These findings were not explained by lack of insight or compulsory treatment.