Irish Mental Health — Ignored by 'Cross Cultural' Psychiatry?
| Date | 01 September 1999 |
| Published date | 01 September 1999 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059904600326 |
| Author | Patrick Murphy |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
219
LETTERS
Irish
Mental
Health —
Ignored
by
’Cross
Cultural’
Psychiatry?
Dear
Editor,
In
his
article
’Cross
Cultural
Psychiatry
and
Probation
Practice:
a
Discourse
on
Issues,
Context
and
Practice’,
~ol.
48(2),
June
1999,
Kamaldeep
Bhui
promises
that
&dquo;it
will
not
be
solely
about
a
narrowly
focused
anti-racist
service&dquo;.
Unfortunately
(and
I’m
sure
inadvertently),
he
reflects
the
orthodoxy
of
cross
cultural
psychiatry
which is
narrowly
focused
and
has
tended
to
ignore
the
experiences
of
Britain’s
largest
minority
ethnic
community:
the
Irish.
There
is
now
a
wealth of
evidence
stretching
back
over
the
last
twenty
years
that
Irish
people
in
Britain
have
one
of
the
poorest
records
of
physical
and
mental
health
of
any
minority
group.
This
was
highlighted
in
an
editorial
in
The
British
Journal
of
Psychiatry
(Feb.
1998)
which
argued
that
their
needs
have been
ignored
by
researchers
and
policy-makers.
It
spelt
out
the
extent
of
the
problem.
The
Irish
are:
.
50%
more
likely
to
commit
suicide
than
the national
average
(a
recent
report
in
The
International
Review
of
Psychiatry
showed
a
rate
of
53%)
.
Nine
times
more
likely
to
suffer
from
alcohol-related
illnesses
.
Twice
as
likely
to
be
admitted
to
hospital
for
schizophrenia
(although
rates
of
this
illness
are
no
higher
in
Ireland
than
most
other
countries)
.
Two
and
a
half
times
more
likely
to
suffer
from
depression.
One
of
the
authors
of
the
editorial,
Dr.
Patrick
Bracken,
stated:
&dquo;As
migrant
workers
the
Irish
have
shared
many
of
the
experiences
and
disadvantages
of
the
Asian
and
African
Caribbean
groups.
Health
and
social
researchers,
however,
tend
to
look
at
the
difference
between
the
Asian
and
black
communities
and
the
’white’
population
as
a
whole,
overlooking
the
Irish
as
a
distinct
group&dquo;.
This
is
what
Bronwen
Walter
(1998)
refers
to
as
&dquo;the
myth
of
white
homogeneity&dquo;.
It
allows
researchers
and
service-providers
to
continue
to
ignore
the
all
too
pressing
needs
of
the
Irish
community.
As
the
recent
Commission
for
Racial
Equality
report,
’Discrimination
and
the
Irish
Community
in
Britain’
(1997),
pointed
out,
this
enforced
invisibility
is
in
itself
a
form
of
discrimination.
The
report
recorded
the
experiences
of
Irish
welfare
groups
which
had
dealt
with
the
Health
Service:
&dquo;...
Irish
needs
were
even
more
marginalised
in
the
Health
Service.
This
was
thought
to
apply
in
particular
to
already
vulnerable
groups:
those
with
alcohol
use
problems,
travellers
and
the
mentally
ill.
These
fears
on
their
clients’
behalf
have
been
reinforced
over
the
years
by
the
research
about
the
lack
of
sensitivity
towards
Irish
people
with
alcohol
use
problems
and
the
very
high
rates
of
admission
to
hospitals
of
Irish
people
with
mental
health
problems.&dquo;
(p.101)
There
is
now
evidence
that
Irish
people
are
over-represented
at
all
levels
of
the
Criminal
Justice
and
Penal
Systems
(see
for
example,
NAPO,
1997).
Given
the
worrying
mental
health
statistics
it
is
also
likely
that
they
will
also
be
over-
represented
amongst
mentally
disordered
offenders.
We
know
practically
nothing
about
this
group
because
of
the
ludicrously
narrow
definition
of
ethnicity
in
use.
As
Dr.
Bhui
points
out:
&dquo;Ethnic
categories
implicitly
include
reference
to
a
person’s
skin
colour
and
’race’
and
are
vulnerable
to
racialised
interpretations&dquo;.
It
is
this
which
has
led
to
the
conflation
of
race
and
ethnicity
and
the
’myth
of
white
homogenity’
is
reinforced.
Surely
this
is
not
in
the
interests
of
either
black
or
white
minority
ethnic
communities.
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