News - Suman Fernando(Mental Health Race And Culture

Personal News

Refusal of OBE

(click to see report in psychminded)

In 2007, I felt unable to accept the offer by the Prime MInister of being recommended for an OBE ('Officer of the British Empire' bestowed by the Queen). Apart from my unease at having 'British Empire' behind my name, especially at the time when imperialism seemed to have been revived by British-American invasionof Iraq, the reasons for my refusal were connected with events in the mental health field with which I was closely involved at the time. In these circumstances I felt unable to accept the offer by Tony Blair of being recommended for a OBE. The letters I wrote are in the public domain - to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown (click name to see).

General News

Over-diagnosis of ‘schizophrenia’ among African Caribbean people

[An article in Society Guardian (click to see) (part of The Guardian newspaper)] on 15 December 2009 reported alarming statements by the Government Mental Health ‘tsar’. This appeared to mean that policies of ‘social engineering’ may be introduced to correct what some researchers claimed was the cause of ‘an epidemic of schizophrenia’ among African Caribbean people in England. A letter signed by several eminent academics and public figures was published on the Guardian website (click to link) with a second article (click to link). SEE ARTICLE 'Ethnic research' (click here to see) - especially the last paragraph for possible political motivation for statements by the 'tsar'.

FOR LATEST ETHNIC STATISTICS

CLICK TO SEE......

comments to: mhrac@btinternet.com.

Look at the news main section about ''schizophrenia" in black people. NOW THEY SAY IT'S NOT IN THEIR GENES BUT IN THEIR CULTURE!!

This harks back to the discredited Moyniham Report (1965) in USA: That was when explanations for why black people were abnormal shifted from genetics and brain-size (of black people) to their 'culture' and family life. 'A tangle of pathology' is how Moynihan described the black American family, comparing it to the norm of white families. ARE WE GOING BACK TO THAT?

Please write to me with comments and criticisms

mhrac@btinternet.com

NEW BOOKS !

Third edition - completely re-written

Published in Sri Lanka but available from me - proceeds to NGO in Sri Lanka