Anxiety, negativity, mania & loss of energy

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Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 30 - 39 >> Sara - Interview 32 >> Sara started dieting to lose weight, but became obsessed with food and reached a dangerously low weight. (Played by an actor).

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 40 - 49 >> Hanif - Interview 30 >> Hanif experiences periods of mania where his activity and speech is very fast, he has lots of ideas, some of which are "far fetched".

Hanif, 49, describes himself as Indian and has lived in the UK for 25 years. Hanif experienced cannabis induced psychosis and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder aged 23. Hanif works in mental health, campaigning to reduce stigma.

Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 60 - 69 >> Mae - Interview 04 >> Mae describes being "high as a kite" and says her unpredictable behaviour meant people were afraid of her. (Played by an actor).

This 62 year old woman has manic depression and describes herself as mixed race. She enjoys life now and is glad to be alive. She thinks going to groups is important and says black families sometimes push away relatives with mental health problems.

Publication date: 19^th June 2008 Last updated: November 2010

Review date: November 2012

We interviewed 30 people from different Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds about their experiences of having mental health problems.

Interviews in other languages: Bengali (Interview 7); Cantonese (Interview 28, 29, 31); Punjabi (Interview 19). See ‘People's stories’ section for these numbered interviews.

Anxiety, negativity, mania & loss of energy

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