What is Mental Health?
Mental health is our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects our thought process, actions, and feelings, and helps determine how we handle stress, make choices, and relate to others. Mental health is important at all stages of life from childhood to adulthood.
How are Disparities Shown in Mental Health?
People from diverse minority groups like African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, etc. are less likely to receive mental health care and often suffer poor mental health outcomes. For example, among adults with any mental illness, 48% of whites received mental health services while only 31% of blacks and Hispanics, and 22% of Asians received mental health services. There are many factors that can affect the accessibility of treatment by members of diverse minority groups which include lack of insurance, mental illness stigma, lack of diversity among mental health care providers, lack of culturally competent providers, language barriers, distrust in the health care system, and inadequate support for mental health service in safety net settings.
Disparities in Mental Health in Specific Groups
African Americans
African Americans make up 13.3% of the United States population. With immigrants from African nations, the Caribbean, Central America, and other countries, the African American communities are culturally diverse. In African Americans, the disparities prevail in regards to mental health care services, not in the rate of mental illnesses. African Americans receive poorer quality of care and don't have access to adequate care. For example, compared to whites, African Americans are less likely to receive guideline-consistent care, less frequently included in research, and more likely to use emergency rooms or primary care rather than mental health specialists. Barriers for African Americans specifically, include stigma associated with mental illness, distrust of the healthcare system, lack of providers from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds, lack of culturally competent providers, and lack of insurance.
Statistics:
One-in-three African Americans receive the necessary mental health care.
Compared with the general population, African Americans are less likely to be offered evidence based medication therapy or psychotherapy.
Black people with mental health conditions, specifically schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and other psychoses are more likely to be incarcerated than people of other races.
Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders
In the United States, 23.8 million Americans identify as Asian American or Pacific Islanders. The population is ethnically, culturally, religiously, and historically diverse. According to research, about 2.7 million Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders have a mental and/or substance use disorder. Asian Americans report fewer serious psychological distress compared to non-Hispanic whites and other racial and ethnic groups while Pacific Islanders report similar rates compared to non-Hispanic whites. Specific to Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, there are cultural and structural barriers as well as other challenges to receiving care. Cultural barriers include lack of knowledge about mental health and associated stigma (especially among immigrants), and the Model Minority* Myth creates pressure to meet societal and familial expectation mental health issues (mental health is considered as weakness). Structural barriers include, lack of cultural competency among service providers which may lead to misdiagnosis or under diagnosis of problems, insufficient multilingual services, and lack of health insurance. Other challenges include lack of accurate data, evaluation, and research, lack of appropriate intervention strategies, and lack of involvement of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders individuals and family members.
*Model Minority- Racial/ethnic minority groups perceived to achieve a higher degree of socioeconomic success than the population average.
Statistics:
Suicide was a leading cause of death for Asian Americans from ages 15 to 24 in 2017.
Southeast Asian refugees are likely to receive a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis due to immigration.
Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders are three times less likely to access mental health services than their white counterparts.
Hispanics/Latinos
The Hispanic/Latino community in the United States is diverse and includes people from different nations and races. Many have lived in the U.S. for many years while others are recent immigrants who face inequities like socioeconomic status, education, and access to healthcare services. In the U.S. more than 17.6% of the population self-identify as Hispanic or Latino. U.S.-born Hispanics report higher rates for most psychiatric disorders than Hispanic immigrants. Hispanic children and adolescents are at a higher risk for mental health problems than white children. Barriers for hispanics/latinos regarding access to mental health care include, lack of insurance, lack of knowledge about mental health problems and services, cultural stigma, language, shortage of bilingual or linguistically trained professionals, difficulties recognizing incipient signs of mental illness, lack of culturally tailored services, etc.
Statistics:
Approximately 1 in 10 Hispanics with a mental disorder use mental health services from a general care provider.
Only 1 in 20 receive services from a mental health specialist.
Among Hispanic students in grades 9-12 in 2015, 18.9% had seriously considered attempting suicide, 15.7% had a plan to attempt suicide, 11.3% attempted suicide, and 4.1% had made a suicide attempt that resulted in an injury, poisoning, or overdose that required medical attention.
LGBTQ
In the United States, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning people vary. Approximately 9 million U.S. adults (3.8%) identify themselves as lesbian or gay (1.7%), bisexual (1.8%), or transgender (0.3%) LGBTQ individuals are more than twice as likely to have a mental health disorder in their lifetime compared to heterosexual men and women. Barriers for LGBTQ people to receive care include stigma and discrimination. Many LGBTQ people have reported experiencing stigma and discrimination when receiving care. LGBTQ individuals have less social support compared to heterosexual individuals.
Statistics:
LGBTQ individuals are 2.5 times more likely to experience depression, anxiety, and substance misuse compared with heterosexual individuals.
The rate of suicide attempts is 4 times greater for lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth and two times greater for questioning youth than that of heterosexual youth.
Women who identify as lesbian/bisexual are more than twice as likely to engage in heavy drinking in the past month than heterosexual women.
Men who identify as gay/bisexual are less likely to engage in heavy drinking than heterosexual men.
Muslim Americans
According to the Pew Research Center, there are about 3.45 million Muslims living in the United States. Data on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among Muslim Americans are rare however, data shows high rates of adjustment disorder experienced by Muslim Americans seeking mental health treatment. There are perceptions of mental health among Muslim Americans which include that mental illness is the due to the will of God, as a test or punishment, an opportunity to remedy disconnection from god, possession by evil spirits, etc. Their Islamic religion also promotes mental health benefits including emphasis on personal hygiene, injunctions against alcohol and substance use, observing daily prayers which reduces depression, etc. However, many Muslim Americans face islamophobia and discrimination. In fact, nearly one-third of Muslim Americans perceived discrimination in the healthcare setting.
Statistics:
Religious discrimination against Muslims is associated with depression, anxiety, subclinical paranoia, and alcohol use.
Among Muslim adolescents, especially girls, acculturative stress leads to more withdrawal, anxiety, and depression.
Written by Vic Kuang
Edited by Joyce Qian
References
Mental Health Disparities. (n.d.). Retrieved February 02, 2021, from https://www.ghs.org/healthcenter/healthyallyear/minority-health-awareness-month/mental-health-disparities/
Mental health disparities: Diverse populations. (n.d.). Retrieved February 02, 2021, from https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/cultural-competency/education/mental-health-facts
What is mental health? (n.d.). Retrieved February 02, 2021, from https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health
This is fantastic!