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• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 40 - 49 >> Niabingi - Interview 01 >> Niabingi describes what her voices say and compares hearing voices with "a song that keeps on coming into your head". (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 50 - 59 >> Lorenz - Interview 11 >> Lorenz says his psychiatrist took on a "bizarre" appearance; he felt he was being spun around and pushed downstairs.

Lorenz is a 50 year old Black Afro-Caribbean man who has been in the UK since 1966. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia aged 20 and this is now controlled by the anti-psychotic Aripiprazole (10mg daily) enabling Lorenz to work as a social care assistant.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 50 - 59 >> Edward - Interview 10 >> Edward experienced "delusions about world domination" and uses hindsight to distinguish between delusions and reality.

Edward, 59, was born in Australia and diagnosed with schizophrenia aged 20. A former head teacher, he took early retirement for health reasons and now stacks supermarket shelves. He believes his condition is caused by genetic and environmental factors.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 50 - 59 >> Edward - Interview 10 >> Edward feels people need time to talk and says challenging the patient's delusions may undermine the psychiatrist's authority.

Edward, 59, was born in Australia and diagnosed with schizophrenia aged 20. A former head teacher, he took early retirement for health reasons and now stacks supermarket shelves. He believes his condition is caused by genetic and environmental factors.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 30 - 39 >> Dolly - Interview 14 >> Dolly finds CBT helps her avoid psychosis, but isn't so helpful when she's unwell.

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 50 - 59 >> Lorenz - Interview 11 >> Lorenz describes coming to accept his diagnosis of schizophrenia and why he thinks the diagnosis was justified by his symptoms and not made because he

Lorenz is a 50 year old Black Afro-Caribbean man who has been in the UK since 1966. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia aged 20 and this is now controlled by the anti-psychotic Aripiprazole (10mg daily) enabling Lorenz to work as a social care assistant.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 30 - 39 >> Dolly - Interview 14 >> Dolly says it's difficult to distinguish paranoia from reality because sometimes "paranoias are really happening to you".

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 >> Sara - Interview 32 >> Sara recalls being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia instead of an eating disorder and says she thinks things might have been different had she be

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 50 - 59 >> Lorenz - Interview 11 >> Lorenz recalls how he believed he was possessed, describes his individual approach to spirituality and says spiritual beliefs can be a hindrance in ps

Lorenz is a 50 year old Black Afro-Caribbean man who has been in the UK since 1966. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia aged 20 and this is now controlled by the anti-psychotic Aripiprazole (10mg daily) enabling Lorenz to work as a social care assistant.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 40 - 49 >> Michael - Interview 31 >> Michael says he did not experience any hallucinations or delusions but professionals accused him of being delusional because he made complaints about

Michael, 49, describes himself as a European Ashkenazi Jew. He has been given a variety of diagnoses, including bipolar affective disorder, personality disorder, paranoid schizophrenia, learning disability, and severe mental impairment.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 40 - 49 >> Jay - Interview 27 >> Jay says she hears her voices constantly and they say mostly negative things, apart from two voices that encourage her.

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 50 - 59 >> Lorenz - Interview 11 >> Lorenz has unusual thoughts and "tangled" thought processes; he knows he's unwell if the television and radio seem to talk to him.

Lorenz is a 50 year old Black Afro-Caribbean man who has been in the UK since 1966. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia aged 20 and this is now controlled by the anti-psychotic Aripiprazole (10mg daily) enabling Lorenz to work as a social care assistant.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 40 - 49 >> Devon - Interview 12 >> Devon says the voice he heard sounded like "my own spirit" and also described believing that the television was talking to him.

Devon, 49, is married and was born in Jamaica; he came to the UK in 1965. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia aged 22 and depression aged 48. He is a founder member of the organization Sound Minds - www.soundminds.co.uk - a user-led music project.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 30 - 39 >> Dolly - Interview 14 >> Dolly knows she is becoming unwell when she starts to see shadows shaped like humans; she also hears voices, poetry and music.

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 20 - 29 >> Chapman - Interview 20 >> Chapman has seen people who looked real but weren't, including someone attacking him with a knife.

Chapman, 23, describes himself as Black-African and was born in Zimbabwe. He has been in the UK for 7 years and is awaiting the decision of an application for asylum. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia at the age of 20.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 40 - 49 >> Jay - Interview 27 >> Jay often sees "creepy-crawly things" and animals, and it can be difficult to distinguish between what is really there and what isn't.

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 20 - 29 >> Tariq - Interview 06 >> Tariq saw dead people and people following him around, but has difficulty remembering exactly what he saw. (Played by an actor).

This 21 year old Asian student was diagnosed with manic depression and then schizophrenia. He disagrees that the mental health system is institutionally racist, saying that he encountered discrimination due to his mental health not his ethnicity.

• Mental health >> Mental health: ethnic minority experiences >> Aged 30 - 39 >> Dolly - Interview 14 >> Dolly's friends with experience of mental health problems help her to challenge feelings of paranoia, and this helps because they know what she's goin

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.