Abstract
South Asians are the largest ethnic minority in the UK, reflecting a migratory flow which began in earnest following the Partition of India in 1947 to fill a labour shortage in post-war Britain. Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities today represent 3.1, 2.7, and 1.1% of the British population, respectively. A further 1.6% of the population belong to other Asian heritages, capturing Sri Lankan and Nepali ethnicities, among others.
The grouping of ‘South Asians’ privileges geographical commonality and conceals a myriad of individual identities incorporating language, gender, religion, caste and culture. As such, the term South Asian reflects an essentialist stance, which homogenises ethnicity and in so doing risks overlooking important social differences. This is particularly true when considering British South Asians, in which differences by migration, generation, location, financial deprivation, and perceived discrimination interweave to influence national identity and acculturation.
Taking a granular lens to ethnicity can help inform our understanding of mental health outcomes. While an increased risk of serious mental illness has been shown for South Asians in the UK relative to White individuals, this broad-brush approach to defining ethnicity lacks nuance; for example, research has reported lower rates of psychosis among British Bangladeshi communities. Furthermore, among British South Asian populations differences in common mental disorders are documented, with older Indian and Pakistani women being particularly vulnerable relative to their White counterparts. Experiences of discrimination, behavioural and lifestyle factors, and broader beliefs about health and illness, are all likely to partly account for the differences observed between South Asian ethnic groups and their White counterparts. Variability in access and uptake of healthcare must also be recognised and may even impact the accuracy of existing prevalence estimates which often rely on first diagnosis data.