Mental Health Treatment Provided Amongst Different Races


 Mental Health Treatment Provided Amongst Different Races

By: Nicole Harrison




 

 

    Mental health treatment is less accessible for black members of the 


community compared to white members of the community. This 


makes it less likely for people of color who are struggling with mental


 health issues to reach out for help or treatment. 










Why This Matters


    This issue is important because such a large portion of our population suffers from mental illnesses. A majority of that population are those of color. These people are not receiving enough or proper treatment for their mental illnesses. Changes need to be made in order to resolve this problem and to provide proper treatment to these patients. 



 





Stigma Towards Mental Health Treatment


Negative attitudes that are held towards mental health. Stigmas are more likely towards those of color with mental health illnesses (Crowe, 2020).  Men are viewed as “weak” if they seek treatment, women view treatment in a more positive way. Those who are more educated on the severity of mental health have less of a stigma towards it.








Treatment Providers


Mental health providers diagnose and provide treatment. Primary care physicians are more likely to recommend psychiatric care. Black patients in need of help were less likely to reach out to these providers (Henry, 2020). Treatment from these providers was less effective and accessible for patients who were not white. Survey concluded that race was a predictor of the access and care that was provided to patients (Meyer, 2013).








Discrimination In Treatment Facilities


    Patients reported staff members who were doubting their mental illnesses and not respecting their privacy. Some staff members assumed patients mental illnesses were because of their sexual orientation or color of their skin. Treatment providers could not provide proper help if they did not understand the severity of discrimination their patients were experiencing. Discrimination while patients are receiving treatment led to increased levels of depression and anxiety (Holley, 2016). 









What Can Be Done? 


The best way to help solve this issue is by raising awareness and knowledge about this topic. This can be done by educating yourself on the discrimination that surrounds mental health treatment. By gaining knowledge on this topic, you can begin to help educate others on the importance of this issue.












Works Cited


■“A Message for Anyone with a Treatment-Resistant Mental Illness.” NAMI, https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/April-2021/A-Message-for-Anyone-with-a-Treatment-Resistant-Mental-Illness.
■Crowe, Allison, and Taehee Kim. "Ethnicity, Life Satisfaction, Stress, Familiarity, and Stigma Toward Mental Health Treatment." Journal of Counseling and Development 98.1 (2020): 83-93. Web.
■Editor, Texas JSA Lonestar. “Causes of Mental Illness: The A to Zs.” Medium, The Lonestar, 3 Mar. 2020, https://medium.com/the-lonestar/causes-of-mental-illness-the-a-to-zs-4f2dbf424ba.
■Henry, Tracey L, Anuradha Jetty, Stephen Petterson, Helaina Jaffree, Allie Ramsay, Erica Heiman, and Andrew Bazemore. "Taking a Closer Look at Mental Health Treatment Differences: Effectiveness of Mental Health Treatment by Provider Type in Racial and Ethnic Minorities." Journal of Primary Care & Community Health 11 (2020): 2150132720966403. Web.
■Holley, Lynn C, Kyoko Y Tavassoli, and Layne K Stromwall. "Mental Illness Discrimination in Mental Health Treatment Programs: Intersections of Race, Ethnicity, and Sexual Orientation." Community Mental Health Journal 52.3 (2016): 311-22. Web.
■Medical ReviewerFarah Fazel, M.A. “What Is Depression? Causes, Symptoms, Treatments, and Getting Help.” What Is Depression? Causes, Symptoms, Treatments, and Getting Help, https://www.healthcentral.com/condition/depression. 
■Meyer, Oanh L, and Nolan Zane. "THE INFLUENCE OF RACE AND ETHNICITY IN CLIENTS' EXPERIENCES OF MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT." Journal of Community Psychology 41.7 (2013): 884-901. Web.
■Sickel, Amy E, Jason D Seacat, and Nina A Nabors. "Mental Health Stigma: Impact on Mental Health Treatment Attitudes and Physical Health." Journal of Health Psychology 24.5 (2019): 586-99. Web.
■Thomas, Courtney Sinclair. More than Discrimination: The Significance of Race-Based Stress and Racial Identity for the Mental Health of Black Americans (2015). Web.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Am Everywhere - Race and PTSD in Media by Max Koch

Race and PTSD in Media Introduction      This page serves as the catalog for my Creative Social Action Project (CSAP), which focuses on the representation of PTSD in media (real with newspapers and fictitious with movies) and how race affects said representation. The intended audience is the general American public, preferably those without much exposure to veterans or service members with PTSD. This page contains a fictional short story demonstrating how damaging inaccurate and/or unnecessarily negative media portrayals are to those suffering with PTSD, shown through an ever-shifting viewpoint of the single-entity Veteran. Beyond this page, the short story will also be shared on Wattpad, a free publishing website for independent writers, where it can shared with readers and found by hashtags. This method of displaying my research plays off of PTSD representation in film – I'm using a form of fiction to display what I've found recurrent in fiction; Someone looking for a m...
Read more

Segregation and Racial Gaps in Special Education

About This webage will discuss how segregation and racial gaps are present in special education. It will explain things to look out for/recognize, why it occurs, and how to potentially stop it from continuing in the future. With this, we will also be vaguely discussing what a disability is and what qualifies someone to be a part of the special education system.   What is disability and how are you diagnosed? According to the ADA, a disability is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.(ADA) Disabilities range from hearing/vision loss, to mental illnesses such as PTSD and ADHD. A disability is NOT baed off of ones skin color or their cultural background. It strictly has to do with ones physical or mental ability to carry out a'major life activities'. In order to be diagnosed with a disability, you need to speak to a doctor or go see a specialist. Do not assume that you are disabled just because a stranger or a teacher...
Read more

Intersectional Discrimination in Education

Image
  Introduction       Hello, my name is Kallie Parrish.  This blog entry discusses intersectional discrimination in education. It is intersectional because ableism and racism combine to form huge discrimination. Listed below are sources that examine this intersectional educational discrimination from the perspectives of people who belong to different ethnicities and range in disability status. I am personally invested in this topic because I am a disabled woman in college. I have not faced much racism since I am white, but I have faced some discrimination in school due to my hearing loss. I am majoring in Public Health at Roanoke College, but I have always had a passion for advocating for disabled people since I am part of the community and see things differently than someone who is not disabled would.                                       ...
Read more