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• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 30 - 39 >> Dolly - Interview 14 >> Dolly says doctors do not understand side effects, but is pleased her current doctor supports her in managing dosage herself.

Dolly, a 36 year old writer and author of The World is Full of Laughter, is of mixed ethnicity (White/Asian), and first experienced psychosis aged 14. She finds Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Buddhism and meditation very useful.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 30 - 39 >> Shareen - Interview 22 >> When she takes her medication she is "knocked out" for 2 days and there is no-one to look after her children or do the housework. (Played by an actor)

Shareen, 39, describes herself as Asian. She was born in the UK but lived in Pakistan between the ages of 11 and 19. Shareen experiences panic attacks, anxiety and depression. Shareen's sister, Marlene was also interviewed.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 30 - 39 >> Sara - Interview 32 >> Sara was distressed when the antipsychotic she was forced to take gave her facial hair, incontinence and weight gain.

Sara, 34, describes herself as Indian and has a diagnosis of depression. Sara's food bingeing was interpreted as psychotic behaviour and she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. In her late twenties, however, a specialist diagnosed an eating disorder.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 60 - 69 >> H. Y. Leung - Interview 29 >> The language barrier meant she and the doctors did not understand each other and she was forced to take medication without knowing what it was. (Audio

HY Leung, 60, was admitted to a London psychiatric hospital. She says her doctors don't understand what she's going through. She feels God accepts and understands her, which supports her to face the challenges of her illnesses and to carry on her life.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 60 - 69 >> Anton - Interview 13 >> Anton takes no medication - he felt the doctors gave up on him.

Anton, 64, is an Asian man who came from Sri Lanka to the UK in 1962. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder aged 45 and was given various medicines but none worked. Now he is not receiving any treatment: he was told by doctors they had "given up" on him.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 60 - 69 >> Ataur - Interview 03 >> Ataur's antidepressant made his head burn and itch and caused pain in his joints.

This 60 year old, Bangladesh-born man moved to Britain in 1964 and developed depression aged 17. He believes a weak mind makes it difficult for him to deal with life's problems and finds talking with friends the best way to manage his depression.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 20 - 29 >> Patricia - Interview 16 >> She found it difficult to describe panic attacks in her own language and says if you can't speak English it's more difficult to explain mental health

Patricia, 25, describes herself as White European. She was born in Portugal and came to the UK to work and has been here for 9 months. For the past five years, Patricia has felt anxious every day and experienced numerous panic attacks.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 30 - 39 >> Shaukat - Interview 17 >> He couldn't describe his anxiety to the doctor and was worried about being given the wrong medication or being sent to hospital, so he told him he had

Shaukat, 36, was born in Pakistan and came to the UK aged 9. He has been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and general anxiety disorder. He finds going to support groups and talking to other people with similar experiences supportive and helpful.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 40 - 49 >> Jay - Interview 27 >> When she was in hospital, she didn't tell anyone that she heard voices, only that her "head was noisy".

Jay, 42, describes herself as Black-British. She was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder aged 34 and now works in mental health. Jay's voices say mainly negative things, but two voices encourage her and give her tenacity and drive.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 40 - 49 >> Reena - Interview 07 >> She believes people use different terms to describe how they feel but it all stems from depression.

Reena, 42, describes herself as Bangladeshi, and came to the UK aged 9. She was diagnosed with depression in her early 30s.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 40 - 49 >> Niabingi - Interview 01 >> Niabingi thought hearing voices was "natural", but when her mum first took her to the doctors, they said nothing was wrong. (Played by an actor).

This 42 year old Black, British born woman was diagnosed at the age of 25 with paranoid schizophrenia but disagrees with the paranoid part. She believes that her mental distress was caused by the racism she experienced when growing up.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 40 - 49 >> Sarah - Interview 28 >> She told her doctor she had an "uncomfortable" feeling in her chest and back pain. (Original in Cantonese, text in English).

Sarah, a married mother of 4, is Chinese and came to the UK from Hong Kong when she got married. She was diagnosed with depression when she was 46. Sarah gets a lot of comfort from her religion - she says she would feel very depressed without it.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 40 - 49 >> Reena - Interview 07 >> She wanted "proper help" from her GP so she told her if they didn't admit her to hospital she would commit suicide or "run away from home". (Audio in

Reena, 42, describes herself as Bangladeshi, and came to the UK aged 9. She was diagnosed with depression in her early 30s.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 20 - 29 >> Patricia - Interview 16 >> She was worried that her panic attacks were really a sign of a physical, not psychological problem, even when hospital tests were negative.

Patricia, 25, describes herself as White European. She was born in Portugal and came to the UK to work and has been here for 9 months. For the past five years, Patricia has felt anxious every day and experienced numerous panic attacks.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 40 - 49 >> Rehana - Interview 18 >> She also has tinnitus and migraines; she describes similar symptoms for these and her mental health problems and believes they are connected.

Rehana, 49, describes herself as Pakistani and has lived in the UK for 27 years. She experiences severe depression, anxiety and panic attacks. Rehana feels ashamed of having depression and is worried that if people find out they might make fun of her.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 30 - 39 >> Marlene - Interview 23 >> She feels like a different person and believes that some of her symptoms might be caused by the menopause and finds it difficult to make people unders

Marlene, 38, was diagnosed with anxiety aged 24. Marlene's father is Pakistani, and her mother is white. Her sister, Shareen, was also interviewed.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 20 - 29 >> Patricia - Interview 16 >> Patricia says getting information from the internet about other people's experiences has helped her cope with her mental health problem.

Patricia, 25, describes herself as White European. She was born in Portugal and came to the UK to work and has been here for 9 months. For the past five years, Patricia has felt anxious every day and experienced numerous panic attacks.