Mental Health & Minorities
Minorities have it extra hard
Mental illness and mental health is more nuanced and multifaceted than we have been able to acknowledge. As stigmatized and hushed as mental health is, it’s even more so in certain minority groups. Gone unnoticed, mental illness becomes insidious and even feared by members of minority communities.
There’s a different kind of pressure minorities face. Our lived experience is different, and we are constantly stuck between trying to fit in and trying to be ourselves. We cannot pretend that mental illnesses like anxiety, depression, and PTSD, manifest the same way in minority communities as they do in majority groups (those with privilege). No – the pressures, everyday challenges, micro-aggressions, and long-term struggles that minorities face are simply different.
Thus, we cannot expect the same mental health approaches that have become popular or common to have the same impact on or value to people of color, queer folks, or those from underprivileged groups.
Furthermore, the problem is exacerbated by the disparities and gaps between majority -minority groups. Minorities may not only face and experience mental illness differently, but there is also less research about mental health within minority groups. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, “Minorities are less likely to receive diagnosis and treatment for their mental illness, have less access to mental health services and often receive a poorer quality of mental health care” (Office of Minority Health). In 2017, suicide was the second leading cause of death for African Americans, ages 15 to 24.Furthermore, African American females, grades 9-12, were 70 percent more likely to attempt suicide in 2017, and Hispanic females were 40% more likely, and Asian American females were 20% more likely, as compared to non-Hispanic white females of the same age. The problem is not just stigma, but awareness and accessibility.
Minorities are also less likely to receive mental health treatment, as one article suggests-in both healthcare and mental healthcare, minorities tend to lack insurance and ready access when compared to whites. An additional underlying factor is practitioner bias: physicians themselves may hold stereotypes or beliefs about minority patients that influences their likelihood to diagnose minority patients. Evidence suggests that they are less likely to distinguish the severity of a mental illness among minority patients. As a whole, mental health among minority groups has become a vicious circle: “The prevalence of mental disorders is generally lower among minorities so that a clinician’s “prior” encountering a minority patient should be that they are less likely to be a “case” in comparison to an otherwise similar white patient. If so, a more serious indication of symptoms would be necessary to cause a clinician to revise the prior enough to justify recommending treatment.”
Now, in the era of coronavirus, data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and described by the New York Times, shows that Latinos and African-Americans in the US are three times more likely to become infected by COVID-19 as white residents, and nearly twice as likely to die from the virus as white people.
This disparity among minority populations is striking to say the least. The impact on mental health is similar. We need to begin by asking ourselves new questions. The problem, and the solution, are twofold: it’s not just resource-based - easing access to the right resources, therapists, and insurance. It is also rooted in examining the stigma, stereotypes, and beliefs we may hold about minority individuals with mental illness. A blanket solution for mental health assistance is not feasible unless all groups are included. Mental illness does not discriminate when it comes to population, and neither should accessibility or treatment.
Then, the solution would have to be nonjudgmental, equitable treatment for those of minority groups - not despite their background, but incorporating all aspects of a patient’s identity instead of dismissing these. Minority experiences should not be disregarded by practitioners, nor should they be used as the sole basis of treatment. Practitioners of all kinds -doctors, therapists, psychiatrists - need to be educated on the nuances of minority experiences and how they can and do affect the mental health of each individual.
Sources:
https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/content.aspx?ID=9447
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3928067/
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/05/us/coronavirus-latinos-african-americans-cdc-
data.html
