‘Services need to reflect the student population they are working with’

For me, developing mental ill health was ultimately about the fact that I refused to admit to myself that there was a problem. Mental ill health refers to a wide range of conditions; things that affect our moods, cause anxiety, eating disorders and addictive behaviours are just a few conditions that people will be aware of.

Although research in this area is not extensive, the Mental Health Foundation suggests that black, Asian and minority ethnic groups are considered to be at higher risk of developing mental ill health than other people. This could be down to the barriers these communities face in accessing health services and factors including socio-economic background, racism, cultural attitudes and acknowledgement of the cause in the first place.

Mental health and wellbeing is a prominent theme at UWE, the university I attend. The saying ‘it’s okay to not be okay’ is widely used to encourage students to seek support. This is something that can be shared with the wider community in Bristol too.

I have not publicly spoken about my own personal experience with mental health until recently. In doing so, I hope that this can encourage those who consider themselves to be closed-off, isolated and alone to seek help. In my case, being president of The Students’ Union at UWE comes with its responsibilities. It is a daunting task. Some of the challenges I have faced have caused self-doubt and crippling anxiety, which are made worse when it causes a reaction online and is aired in public.

Within my personal life, there were also challenges to face. The ever-looming separation of my parents in Scotland, the emergency hospitalisation of my grandmother due to a failing lung and the sudden death of a friend and fellow UWE student, who tragically passed away after a car accident: all of these events happened during January 2018 and it was because of this that I started to feel the effects of mental ill health.

During this time, it became difficult for me to open up and talk to anybody about what was going on. After much time in isolation, I needed to get this off my chest. I finally turned to my closest friends, whom I have grown to admire even more after sharing deeply personal things with them. Since I also come from a religious background, they helped me understand things in a more spiritual way too.

I strongly feel that to move forward in society, the first step should be to talk – to your family, friends or anybody whom you can trust.

Secondly, we need to provide more inclusive and culturally appropriate development and delivery of mental health services for BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) communities. Only now have I learnt of brilliant organisations such as Nilaari, who specialise in providing culturally appropriate mental health services in Bristol. Universities need to invest in recruiting fulltime BAME outreach officers and counsellors to ensure these services reflect the student population they are working with.

At The Students’ Union, I am actively involved with increasing BAME representation on a full-time staff level basis. It is important to be reflective of our rich and diverse student body at UWE. This can only enhance the experience of the average BAME student, knowing that within their own institution there is a place and people to turn to who have a more likely chance of being more understanding of our identity.

No one wants mental ill health to go unnoticed until it becomes more severe. This in turn could result in BAME patients being overly represented in acute care, but underrepresented in counselling or psychiatric therapy. I have taken this opportunity to share my experience of an issue that is not understood widely enough. Whether you are a student at our university, a staff member or a citizen of our city of Bristol, we must all do what we can to help, support and care for each other. And those who may be struggling should not do so in silence.

Zain Choudhry is president of the Students’ Union at UWE Bristol.

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