Limiting MH support to certain cultural areas?

[Mindcultural]

I have today received this message below from a mental health support service for young people.

AIBU to think it’s completely wrong to offer support based on cultural diversity and would like to know how they decide who fits this criteria?

Hi,

I’m getting touch as you have recently made a referral to our Youth In Mind services on behalf of a child or young person.

Unfortunately, we are having to reduce the size of the team for funding reasons, so we now only have funding to support young people from culturally diverse communities, if this is relevant for the individual you referred to us, please can I ask that you complete this form forms.office.com and we will be back in touch accordingly.

If we are now no longer able to offer support to the individual you have made a referral for, please accept our apologies for this. Please feel free to keep an eye on our website for updated information regarding available services as we are always looking for new funding opportunities to allow us to reach more children and young people.

Totally missing the point . 🙄

This thread is about provision for young people and a range of initiatives that is supposed to be taking over from NHS provision that isn’t there - for young people, not men. It’s Youth in Mind

The list you’ve provided is for male adults. Young people continuously let down by services need help aimed at them not older men. I’ve been in the misfortune of needing to access charities and one of my dc had to attend groups aimed at adults that was hugely traumatising.

Also give over with the long list of charities, many don’t provide anything like what this one is offering and are often little more than info web pages.

There is a need for Andy’s man’s club etc where men get together and talk and it has been found that a men only group encourages participation but things like 1:1 therapy sessions are totally different.

And no I don’t think anyone should be fundraising for men’s only suicide prevention 1:1 therapy. It should just be for suicide prevention. The fact that men are more likely to die through suicide shouldn’t mean you ignore the suicidal woman in front of you.

Assess the persons need, not their identity.

Not every single think will be aimed at your child. Hope that helps.

They are no different at all. See my comment above about Andy’s man’s club.

Many people arguing are those carering for very ill young people. When you spend your life caring and battling for next to nothing whilst trying to keep your dc alive don’t have time left for campaigning.

Some people are so so ignorant as regards what families are having to cope with, ditto this charity.

If there are services aimed at children they should be aimed at all children regardless of identity though, don’t you think?

@OnlyHope33 there is zero issue with a charity focusing its funds on a narrow, specific need. 100% makes sense with limited funds.

my issue with what this particular charity has written is that is doesn’t define what groups it is targeting. ‘Culturally diverse’ isn’t a thing. An Italian is culturally diverse from a person who had Polish heritage but I don’t think that is what they mean. How do they determine if you meet the criteria? If it simply non- white then is that done by DNA or a visual check? It is such a horrible woolly phrase that isnt definable.

by all means if a charity wants to focus on better outcomes from a very definable group which you objectively are in or out of then that’s fine but that should be in the charity objectives. If the charity is a general charity that fund raises on a general basis then I don’t think it should be allowed to narrow down who it targets

@Cucumberino

Simple question:
Do you think it’s right that any charity is allowed to choose who they provide services to based on race?

All charities will have some sort of funding to reach unrepresented groups or groups who require significant more need, whether that's age, race, gender, sexuality etc. As long as the evidence / data is there to represent it, yes I do.

And if “culturally diverse” is being used to exclude then really it should be recognised that LGBT and ND people are classed as culturally diverse people.

See how ridiculous the whole thing is. Provision should be based on need not phrases.

What other services are there available to white British children not available to ‘culturally diverse people’ like me? Interesting that you’re ok with the native population of this country being shut out of one of the biggest mental health charities during times of mental health crisis. It’s disgusting and discriminatory.

OP this is not ok and I’d be lodging a complaint and checking this against the equality act.

Why do you think that?

even so my point was- WHERE ARE THEY SECTIONED?!?

I’ll give you a real life example. I was in an acute secure ward last month. Overnight 2 men were admitted. Both had been sectioned by the police after an ambulance was called by their family members

a 42 year old white man, sectioned after 3 hours of asking him to voluntarily get in the ambulance, on his own driveway.

a 36 year old black man, who arrived having been tasered.

this is typical, and this is a real example behind the majority of black men being sectioned in a police car. Now think about why the police might’ve taken time with the white man yet the situation with the black man deteriorated so badly he was tasered.

and just to confirm, before you say it, being sectioned is not a crime, and this scenario isn’t connected to criminal behaviour.

The police’s only involvement is that legally only they have the power to section in a public place.

Of course beng ND or LGBT isn’t cultural diversity. I presume you wouldn’t argue either being gay or ND is a culture?

it’s a minority. That’s not the same as cultural diversity.

But the definition of culture is
.
‘the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society’

surely any identifiable group falls into that definition?

Sectioning is a process that needs to follow protocol and procedures. Both men will need help so really not getting your point.

And we’re talking about children and young people anyway. Other groups are at higher risk of sectioning and abuse/ death in inpatient, why should they be excluded.

Provision should be based on need.

I’d have less of an issue if MIND advertised themselves as a charity for the mental health of the culturally diverse (whatever that may mean) and then we’d know. But they don’t. OP had an expectation of this mainstream charity helping her in an equal manner, and they didn’t.

If there's a majority of cultural ppl living in that area then I can see the point...but honestly mental health affects everyone regardless of their cultural background...to deprive others is not acceptable whether it's charity or not.
I hope you find a better support system for your child ❤️
Help for Mental health in adults is worse in my opinion....I've been dealing with a relative and honestly despite every effort their not supported enough.

You think being ND is a culture?!

you think they are the way they are because they have particular customs and behaviours?

you couldn’t make it up 😱

You’re not getting my point because you’re being deliberately obtuse. I hope your child gets the help they need so you can just forget about mentally ill people and get on with your life.

Autistic people are increasingly recognized and classified as a culturally diverse group or a distinct cultural identity, rather than solely a clinical, medical, or disability category. This shift is part of the neurodiversity paradigm, which views autism as a natural form of human diversity.
National Autistic Society +2
Here is how autism is considered a culture:

• Shared Culture and Identity: Autistic people often share unique ways of communicating (e.g., direct, literal), thinking, socializing, and experiencing the world. This has led to the development of a distinct "autistic culture," which includes shared values, customs, and behaviors like stimming.
• Unique Social Norms: Autistic culture has its own set of social norms that differ from the "neurotypical" (non-autistic) majority, such as prioritizing direct communication over small talk.
• "Othering" and Marginalization: Historically and currently, autistic people have been treated as "the other" and faced systemic suppression, similar to other minority groups. This shared experience of stigma and the need to "mask" (hide) traits to fit into a neurotypical world has fostered a shared, marginalized culture.

Imagine the outrage if it was white people only and not whites were rejected? It is discrimination, plain and simple.

I think she’s saying that the phrase ‘culturally diverse’ is a load of old nonsense.

"Some will even go as far to blast a charity who they have never supported or made a donation to but expect priorty treatment when they need a specific service that particular charity offers."

Some/any treatment should be nice, let alone priority treatment. This charity is refusing treatment for all white British people.

Wow how ignorant are you.

Autistim and severe mental illness doesn’t just disappear. Parents can’t just get on with their lives or forget about the trauma of supporting children tho have tried to take their own lives multiple times.

The fact is if we’d had some of the resources this charity offers we might be in a better position for me to get on with my life- and using up less tax payers money.

MH provision should be based on need.

lets pretend you missed the large number of posts expiating how this is a funding stream and the white stream is already full. There are spaces on the culturally diverse and girls streams still.

it’s not refusing treatment for white people is it? The white stream is full.

Because they allow everyone to reach out for help.