Sir: Why do Hickling & Hutchinson (Psychiatric Bulletin, March 2000, 24, 94-95) insist on naming what is essentially a delusion of racial identity “roast breadfruit psychosis”? Not only is the term offensive, akin to having named it “bounty bar psychosis”, but as Hari Maharaja's erudite response (Psychiatric Bulletin, March 2000, 24, 96-97) pointed out they have simply “extrapolated a cultural concept - into a diseased state”.
Confusion over identity is not unique to Black people and racial identity is only one aspect of one's identity that individuals and groups in society struggle to define. In our complex multi-cultural society ‘White’ culture is increasingly aware of, exposed to, and influenced by ‘non-White’ culture. We now have ‘trustafarians’ and comedic characters such as Ali G. A trustafarian is a derogatory term used to describe White teenagers who have both trust funds and Rastafarian hairstyles! Ali G is a comedic caricature of a White man mimicking Black rap/reggae street style and is the invention of a White Jewish comedian.
Ali G became famous after a series of televised spoof interviews with prominent people in the public eye. The interviewees did not realise that Ali G was not the real thing and answered his increasingly ridiculous questions in a naïve, serious or patronising manner. I believe Hickling & Hutchinson have been taken in by a similar spoof - they have decided to analyse the delusional content of individuals with psychosis and in so doing have revealed more about themselves than any new insight into psychotic illness.
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