MENTAL HEALTH CARE SHOULD BE BETTER TAILORED TO THE NEEDS OF BLACK COMMUNITIES, ARGUE HAREWOOD AND HARRIS

David Harewood

In 2019, Homeland star Harewood made a BBC documentary called Psychosis and Me, in which he explored the events that led to him being sectioned 30 years earlier.

“Nobody at any point sat me down and said, ‘This is what happened to you, this is why it happened to you, and this is your prognosis.’ Nobody said anything. No one told me what the drugs did. I learned all that through making the documentary, and that’s why I think the documentary hit me so hard. It was the first time I really looked at that period of my life and gained some understanding of it. Until then, I had no idea that it was psychosis. Somebody had mentioned that it was a psychotic episode, but that was as much as I was told. “Now, I know that there are certain signs to look for. When I shared my documentary in Streatham, just before it aired on the BBC, I held a Q&A. Five black lads came up to me afterwards who I could see were clearly having a manic episode. I said to each of them that they needed to get help right now: stop smoking weed and seek help. All of them agreed. “I think, had somebody said that to me, I probably would have stopped smoking and sought some kind of help, but there was nobody that I either trusted or who took me seriously enough to be able to do that.”

Sadiki Harris

Having originally signed up as a volunteer, Harris now works as communications lead for Black Thrive, a charity working to reform mental health services and address structural inequalities. He has personal experience: in 2011, Harris had a breakdown.

“I was messed up for a good couple of weeks, and I was doing some silly things. I started going underneath the dining table: that felt like the safest place for me. I’d be there for hours, this big, grown man. “Poor mental health is not something that’s synonymous with being black. But we live in a society that’s very oppressive: all the statistics [point to this]. You’re 40 times more likely to be stopped and searched; there are disproportionate numbers of us in prisons. “As we speak, Black Thrive is running a Crowdfunder. We’re hoping to raise £250,000, so we can deliver more culturally appropriate community healing. “One of the ambitions of the fund is setting up safe spaces, but it’s also about creating a buffet of treatments and activities. I believe that we just need to offer as many activities [as we can] and present them in the best way possible.”

For information or support, see blackthrive.org.uk