Diversity in Mental Health
What an honor it is to celebrate National Minorities Mental Health Month! As a minority and a counselor in the mental health field myself, I have learned about the importance of considering diversity, access to care, and stigma for minorities in mental health.
Take a moment to try an experiment with me, and think about how you would answer the following questions:
- What race/ethnicity are you?
- What impressions do you have about mental health, and where did they come from?
- Have you tried to access mental health for yourself?
- If yes, was it important to you to find a provider with your same race/ethnicity?
- If yes, how hard/difficult was it to find a provider with knowledge about your race/ethnicity?
According to the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports, white Americans still have more access to mental health services than minorities. In addition to that, services that minorities receive tend to be lower in quality. There are a number of reasons for this, including language barriers, biases, lack of health insurance coverage, and significant stigma toward mental health treatment in minority communities.
Black teens have a suicide rate 3 times higher in males than female, and African American adolescents overall have the highest rate of suicide across any age group of African Americans. Asian-Americans who experience mental illness report increased feelings of inferiority compared to individuals who have not experienced a mental health issue. In some cultures, discussing psychological problems is taboo or shameful. In others, they may see religious leaders as responsible for addressing mental health, though they may not be qualified. The lack of understanding of mental health illnesses as true illnesses prevents minorities from seeking care and providers from understanding the diverse needs of minorities.
So what can be done?
- If you are passionate about mental health awareness in minority populations, advocate for your community and invite mental health professionals to speak at local events
- Begin by evaluating your own biases about mental health, or thinking about ways these biases have been perpetuated in your community. Start speaking about mental health in a new way to your family and friends.
- Research affordable care in your community that can be accessed by different levels of financial standing.
- Look for providers in your area with diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds or an appreciation for different cultural attitudes and get to know their approach for treatment.
- If you are a mental health provider who is not a minority, be sure that you are working to understand attitudes of diverse populations, and take the time to learn what minorities in your community need to be able to access appropriate care.
Fighting mental health stigma takes time as we undo beliefs that have taken root for generations, but there is hope. When we can begin to separate mental illness from the person, or as NAMI puts it, to stop equating “feeling bad with being bad,” then we can move towards progress and healing.
-Mary
Sources:
https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/July-2017/Disparities-Within-Minority-Mental-Health-Care
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5568160/
https://thethirty.byrdie.com/mental-health-in-minority-communities–5aa98297a77b1
https://www.nami.org/stigmafree
