There has been an increase in people experiencing a mental breakdown due to pressures in society such as financial woes and family issues, a special event in Brent heard.
The revelation was made during an ‘opem mic’ session at Brent Civic Centre which discussed mental illness, depression and suicide.
Organised by the Nous Organisation, a grassroots project which aims to increase awareness of mental health illness in the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities, the event allows people from the community to speak openly about the stigmatised issues.
Attendees included Cllr Parvez Ahmad, Mayor of Brent, and Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council,
Cllr Butt gave a speech in which he acknowledged that mental breakdown was on the increase and Dr Shade Olajubu, a forensic psychiatrist, gave a presentation on suicide and the link to depression.
Lade Ogunseitan-Olugbemi, Brent Council’s head of care and support in housing needs and NOUS facilitator, said: “The open mic session lets members of the community talk and share experiences.
“We hope that with these sessions we will be able to start to disable the erroneous information held by the community about mental health illness which has prevented people from accessing services earlier.”
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