Acknowledging Mental Health

 As a clinician, I believe that eliminating mental health disparities for minorities, will take communication, treatment interventions and federal policies that provide the culturally sensitive outreach and educational support necessary to train a diverse workforce to meet the mental health needs of our people.Low treatment of minorities with mental illness is a major public health problem, best treated by providers who are clinically and culturally adept at helping minorities overcome environmental, cultural, spiritual, and traditional trauma. Minorities often suffer from poor mental health outcomes due to multiple factors including:

• inaccessibility of quality mental health care services

• cultural stigma surrounding mental healthcare

• systemic discrimination,

• an overall lack of awareness about mental health. 

These factors can present challenges when communicating mental health concerns. Minorities have less access to mental health services than do whites, are less likely to receive needed care and are more likely to receive poor quality care when treated. In fact, minorities in the United States are more likely than whites to delay or fail to seek mental health treatment altogether. Treatment initiation and continuation can be improved by:

• incorporating the cultural views of minorities

• increased health literacy and awareness

• targeting stigma when developing communication interventions for minorities

Speaking of stigma, according to a study conducted by Ward, Wiltshire, Detry, and Brown, minorities, specifically, Black, and African American people hold beliefs related to discrimination, psychological openness, and help-seeking, which in turn affects their coping behaviors. The participants in this study were not very open to acknowledging psychological problems, but they explored barriers to minorities seeking treatment for their mental illnesses. Research still indicates that minorities believe that mild depression or anxiety would be considered “crazy” in their social circles. Furthermore, many believe that discussions about mental illness would not be appropriate even among family. 

We have to normalize speaking about mental health every day, everywhere and to everyone. Additionally, policy efforts should focus on improving access to and quality of mental healthcare for minorities. Specifically, policies that would result in universal coverage for mental health care would significantly improve access for ethnic minorities. These quality improvement efforts would need to include:

• ethical/moral considerations

• screening to increase appropriate identification of disorders for minorities, as well as modest accommodations for minorities (providing language appropriate educational and treatment materials

• culturally sensitive training for providers. 

 

If you are anyone you know is interested in therapy, speaking about mental health or in need of support please contact Speak To Me Consulting LLC for: counseling • consulting• speaking services at Speaktomeconsulting@gmail.com

 

#mentalhealth #leadership #opportunity #consulting #trauma