Breaking Barriers: Addressing Minority Mental Health

In our con­tin­u­ous effort to pri­or­i­tize men­tal well-being and inclu­siv­i­ty, we join the nation in com­mem­o­rat­ing Minor­i­ty Men­tal Health Month. This ded­i­cat­ed obser­vance brings atten­tion to the unique strug­gles that racial and eth­nic minor­i­ty com­mu­ni­ties face regard­ing men­tal illness.

Minor­i­ty Men­tal Health Month was estab­lished by the vision­ary men­tal health advo­cate Bebe Moore Camp­bell. Camp­bell, a renowned author and advo­cate, rec­og­nized the dis­pro­por­tion­ate impact of men­tal health chal­lenges on minor­i­ty pop­u­la­tions. Dri­ven by her own expe­ri­ences and her desire to break down bar­ri­ers to men­tal health care, Camp­bell laid the foun­da­tion for this month-long observance.

Stigma­ti­za­tion, cul­tur­al bar­ri­ers, his­tor­i­cal trau­ma, and lim­it­ed access to health­care ser­vices are some of the fac­tors that con­tribute to the dis­par­i­ties in men­tal health care.

• Accord­ing to the Sub­stance Abuse and Men­tal Health Ser­vices Admin­is­tra­tion (SAMH­SA), adults from racial and eth­nic minor­i­ty back­grounds are less like­ly to receive men­tal health treat­ment com­pared to their white counterparts.

• The Nation­al Alliance on Men­tal Ill­ness (NAMI) reports that LGBTQ+ indi­vid­u­als are at a high­er risk of expe­ri­enc­ing men­tal health chal­lenges due to soci­etal dis­crim­i­na­tion and lack of acceptance.

• Research by the Amer­i­can Psy­chi­atric Asso­ci­a­tion indi­cates that Asian Amer­i­cans and His­pan­ic Amer­i­cans are less like­ly to seek men­tal health ser­vices, cit­ing var­i­ous cul­tur­al and lin­guis­tic barriers.

• Native Amer­i­can com­mu­ni­ties face sig­nif­i­cant men­tal health dis­par­i­ties, with sui­cide rates being high­er than the nation­al aver­age, accord­ing to the Indi­an Health Service.

• African Amer­i­cans are dis­pro­por­tion­ate­ly affect­ed by socio-eco­nom­ic fac­tors, mak­ing them more vul­ner­a­ble to men­tal health issues, as stat­ed by the Health and Human Ser­vices Office of Minor­i­ty Health.

By shar­ing this infor­ma­tion, we hope to bring to light the bar­ri­ers faced by minor­i­ty com­mu­ni­ties and men­tal health. If you’re strug­gling with men­tal health, speak with your pri­ma­ry care provider about next steps. If you need a provider, vis­it https://​quin​cymed​group​.com/pro.…