Episode 5 | Beyond Discharge: Rethinking the Mental Health Act

Описание: Black people are four times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act and often detained for longer.

In Episode 5 of our BMMUK Roundtable, community leaders and mental health advocates unpack what this really means and why focusing only on post-discharge care misses the deeper issue.

This conversation challenges the assumption that compulsory treatment at the “end” of someone’s journey can undo the trauma experienced throughout the system. Instead, the panel asks:

Why are Black people entering the system at such disproportionate rates?
Why are they detained for longer periods?
Why is voluntary support often not offered in the same way?
What happens in childhood and adolescence that sets these pathways in motion?

The discussion also explores how crisis-driven, coercive frameworks shape experiences of care. We examine the long-standing limitations of the Mental Health Act, and consider alternative models such as community-based, co-produced crisis pathways used internationally.

This episode also addresses:

The lack of meaningful, long-term wraparound support after discharge
The cycle of re-institutionalisation
The role of housing, employment, and family support
Intergenerational and transgenerational trauma
What it truly means to decolonise mental health systems
Representation within institutions, and the structural power dynamics behind it

If we are serious about equity, reform cannot stop at discharge. We must look upstream. We must examine the foundations. And we must build systems that prioritise dignity, cultural safety, and community-led support.

Watch, reflect, and join the conversation.

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#MentalHealthEquity
#MentalHealthAct
#DecolonisingCare
#BlackMentalHealth
#SystemsChange