Devon Marston, a 66 -year -old community organizer and musician, must be taken to a psychiatric hospital to eat drugs. He was diagnosed with paranoia schizophrenia.
“Everything talked about me and me, but no one asked me how I was doing,” he said. “I had no voice, and ‘Don’t do that to him’ or ‘listen to His words and listen to what he says.’
This experience had a significant influence on his life and had a campaign to better care for minorities who suffered mental pain. But progress was painful.
“Nothing has changed. Everything is still the same. “It looks fair because of the provisions of mental health law, but there is no equality and justice.”
The most recent data draws a scary picture. Care Quality Commission’s latest report found that the number of adults has more than doubled between 2023 and 2024 for very urgent mental health care from the crisis team.
The report, published on Thursday, also found that it is 3.5 times more likely to be detained than white, raising concerns about the over -the -counter representatives of blacks who have been detained under the law.
A terrible report warns that people were in a bad body and were trapped in the “damage” of hospital hospitalization while waiting for help.
TIWA, a 22 -year -old, explained her experience of mental health support services as “very traumatic.” Her struggle with mental health began when he was 13 years old and began to self -harm. She was diagnosed with depression, anxiety disorders and suicide thoughts as well as eating disorders. She is still experiencing a nightmare about the time spent in the mental health of children.
“It was a terrible experience that I didn’t want,” she said. She points out limited practices, restrictions and use of forced drugs.
“There was a night where there were four employees who took care of 12 to 15 young people who were constantly undergoing a very dangerous self -harm. So we will be people who jump into a friend’s room, help them, save, and scream for employees. ”
Her hospital discharge had to be an important milestone in recovery. But she said:
Devon and Tea think that their races have influenced their treatment. “There were times when the situation was much faster and more unnecessarily expanded. It may have been used when not needed, or it seemed to be aggressive. In my opinion, it had a clear racial race, ”Tiwa said.
Devon still remembers the first night of his section. He was worried about his welfare but did not fully understand mental health. The doctor took him to a mental hospital with the police and ambulances.
Devon said, “I went to the office with a night nurse. “Suddenly I saw two to four large white men coming down the hall and coming down to the ground.
His life has changed completely. “I couldn’t breathe. I was dribbling in my mouth. I couldn’t eat properly. I saw people around me in a similar atmosphere. I thought to go to heaven. I will die. When I saw the window, I was able to see a large land where the ward was located in the building, the flowers grew up and everything was calm. I never understood the experience, but after a few years, I realized what happened. They gave me a psychiatric medicine to keep me quiet. ”
He added: “A person who has been accused of being mental, violent, black, or dangerous in the community gives you sedatives. These employees and drugs that experts provide me are different from giving us younger white people. They do not get the same thing as the black man gets. ”
Dr. Sarah Hughes, the chief executive of Mind, said: “The commonality between Devon and Tea is that the story of transcending generations and gender for decades shows how far away we should stamp racial discrimination in mental health care.”
Hughes welcomes CQC’s Thursday Report, but says that it has made a positive early progress in implementing the patient and care of race equality framework.
Devon was able to recover thanks to music. The nurse, who recognized his talent, prepared to start a music workshop for other black men who are struggling with mental health problems. In 1992 he co -founded the sound mind.
When asked what would happen next time, TiWa, a young activist who works with an institution on mental health care reform, said that discussions on change should focus on the living experience of people. “If you know what someone is a member of the system, those who have experienced it will not be reasonable for these people to be part of change.”
Devon agreed: “Listen to our words. If you ask us what we need, we will tell you. ”
