Racism, racial life events and mental ill health

Abstract

The association of life events with the onset of various psychiatric disorders is well-known. The body of evidence has highlighted the impact of negative or positive life events on the genesis of common mental disorders, especially depression. These findings have been replicated across different cultures, although the impact of different life events varies between cultures. In addition, the roles of chronic difficulties (defined in Life events and psychiatric disorders, below) and resulting ongoing chronic stress have been shown to contribute to vulnerability to certain mental illnesses. However, data on the impact of life events, especially those perceived as racial, on members of minority ethnic groups are rather sparse. The questions that need to be addressed concern the perception of life events as racial, the role of pervasive and perceived institutional and individual racism, and chronic difficulties.