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Why we do it
The problem
Thelma Matilda Alves Foundation was started after our founder noticed discrepancies between the mental health treatment she was being given by her GP and that of her white female friends. She found that all of her white female friends were offered a range of mental health treatments such as funded counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy, and medication while she was only offered a high dosage of antidepressants despite expressing suicidal thoughts. Her negative experience approaching the NHS for mental health treatment prompted her to research and learn more about the experiences of black women's mental health in Britain.
Her research highlighted a significant problem of black women being disproportionately affected by mental health but not receiving the quality of care that they need.
29% of Black women have a common mental health disorder in comparison to 24% of Asian women, 21% of White British Women, and 16% of White other women.
Women of African/Caribbean descent experience a higher rate of mental health disorders than white women but are less likely to receive mental health treatment (statistics from weareagenda.org).
The mental health charity Mind stated that “Black women experience substantially higher rates of mental health problems than white women".
White people are twice more likely to receive mental treatment than Black people (mind.org.uk, 2019)
9.6% of qualified clinical psychologists in England and Wales are from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds (Health & Social Care Information Centre 2013).
10% of BAME people believe that talking therapy adequately considers their cultural background (mind.org)
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