How Does Mental Heath Services Could Be?

Mental illness is and has always been a serious topic. But it has not always been taken as serious in the black community. From my research, scholars and medical professionals in the field of mental health spoke on the fact that mental illness is a stigma in the black community and the conversation of this is not happening. There are many factors that contributed to this. Factors such as the distrust of medical professionals, mis-diagnosis, socio-economical factors and so much more contribute to the reason the black community is missed when it comes to mental health. I also discovered the inside factors that were culture, religion, mis-education, and family reliance. This also becomes why it is a stigma or why it’s not talked about amongst everyone in the community.

As a Global Health student, I am passionate about the mental and physical health of women of color. My research argues racial, gendered, and economic oppression can directly cause mental illness, such as depression, among women of color. And yet, there remain vast health disparities among communities of color due to the prevalence of inadequate treatment facilities, health insurance programs, and health resources due to food deserts and poor infrastructure. Subsequently, there have been studies on the institutional inadequacies of mental health treatment in diagnosing and treating women of color, due to internalized gendered racism and inadequate professional training. Furthermore, the economic toll on poor women of color can be sever without proper insurance, and the risk of job loss due to mental illness discourage patients from seeking treatment. These conditions sustain health disparities among women of color, especially poor and queer women of color.

This article is a great article that relates to African Americans seeking mental health treatment at lower rates than whites. The article states that this disparity can be attributed to attitudes toward services, alternate coping, and differences in care. This article also illuminates biases in counseling.

Cultural mistrust of white mental health clinicians among African Americans with severe mental illness was conducted to determine the effects of cultural mistrust when African American patients with their white clinicians. The hypothesis tested was African American patients would have more of a negative feeling towards white clinicians that are providing care for them. According to this study they examined 154 African Americans that had been recently admitted into a psychiatric

The internal wall that often keeps black men away from psychotherapy goes along with external barriers built just as high, if not higher. Mental health practitioners are overwhelmingly white, with the proportion of black psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychoanalysts estimated at less than three percent of the nation 's total. This would mean that even if black men were to break through the self-imposed barriers and seek professional help for mental issues, it may be difficult to find someone with whom they can build a rapport, and whom they feel can relate to them, and they can trust. This feeling of comfort is what allows a patient to reveal his most intimate secrets. As Dr. Richard Mouzon, a prominent black clinical psychologist puts it, "Many of us grow up feeling that it is dangerous to give up too much of yourself to the white man." There 's no denying that access to mental health care is restricted for Americans in general. In private health insurance policies and government medical assistance programs, psychotherapy is too often considered a luxury rather than a necessity. It has been said often times that the only people with a guaranteed

Health care for mental illness is an issue in the African American community for Men, Women and Adolescents due to the underserving and lack of mental healthcare providers, the cultural stigma of having mental illness and

To effectively lessen the effects of lifelong racism and discrimination, Hays & Erford (2014) recommends a strength-based approach, with the counselor focusing on the individual and family capacities. Focusing on the client’s positive attributes and favorable cultural norms can encourage one to become more resilient (Vaterlaus, Skogrand, & Chaney, 2015). Furthermore, applying counseling skills such as unconditional positive regard, empathy, consistency, focusing on the client, and providing a supportive environment can all help the therapeutic relationship (Hays & Erford, 2014). Additionally, making the counselor/client relationship equal will also allow the client to feel more comfortable, may dispel the mistrust of counseling prominent in African American culture (Hays & Erford, 2014). Finally, acknowledging the racial differences with the client could encourage them to discuss the racism and discrimination they may have experienced (Hays & Erford, 2014).

The lack of mental health care services for minorities is a long-standing problem in the United States. The first time the issue received attention was in 1985, when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report that described serious health discrepancies that minority populations were enduring. In 1986, because of this report, the Office of Minority Health was formed to assist in the reduction of the health care shortages for

For example,African-American and Hispanics are less likely than European-Americans to receive outpatient treatment, In many African-American communities, there is a persistent belief that social and treatment service attempt to impose European-American values, adding to distrust of the treatment ( ).

When experiencing a mental illness, African Americans face obstacles “related to understanding the problem or situation and limitation in awareness of possible solutions, strategies remedies and resources” (Hines-Martin, Malone, Kim, & Brown-Piper, 2003). In a study by Hines-Martin (2003), participants verbalized that they did not think they were “crazy” and therefore did not need mental health services. In this instance participants showed a lack of knowledge about what mental health illness looks like. They identified mental illness as dichotomous states (Hines-Martin et al., 2003). A study by Mental Health America found similar results. In this study, a majority of African Americans surveyed believed that depression was a “health problem” and in some cases “normal” (MHA, 2012). Talking about mental illness is taboo for African Americans, and as a result they possess little knowledge about specific mental health problems or available treatments (Alvidrez et al., 2008). For African Americans, stigma serves as an impediment to problem recognition. Because they have a misconstrued idea of what mental illness is, they are less likely to contemplate that they have such problems. Alvidrez (2008) found that stigma prevented 65% of their survey respondents from contemplating that they had such problems. Because many African Americans are uninformed about what mental illness is and how it

Openness, honesty and directness are essential components in open dialogue with multicultural clients in order to maintain a relationship of value. Miller (2015) describes open dialogue as an atmosphere in which dialogue is engaged in an open fashion in a therapy session. It includes the creation of an intimate environment where challenges related to racial and ethnic factors can be openly discussed (p. 311). For example, when treating an African American client who experiences depression and concerns for her/his safety, a counselor could consider how living in an underserved neighborhood where crime may be rampant has an effect on how one would go about their day. The client may fear for their life frequently and perhaps protracted efforts to find a job have been unsuccessful. The specificity of race in these circumstances could be the determining factor in the client’s depression and safety concerns. If the same client suffered from addiction, the therapist could reflect on how being a part of a minority group with a history of being sidelined and discriminated against could have, in part, enabled the addiction as a method of coping with life stressors.

Over the year?s minorities have been treated differently in America. There was a point in time when people did not understand people of color and even made assumptions about them. Because of this systemic factors have been established both in the mental health and education system. Counselors had their own perception

Mental illness affects one in five adults in America but mental illness in minority communities is found to be higher than the white communities. Studies show that adult Caucasians who suffer from depression or an anxiety disorder are more likely to receive treatment than adult African Americans with the same disorders even though the disorders occur in both groups at about the same rate which means that there is a lack of support within the minority communities. Issues such as language barriers, lack of access to healthcare, poor quality of care, etc. is the reason why there is a higher rate of mental illnesses in the minority communities. Research shows that only 8.7% of adult blacks received treatment for mental health vs the 16% of adult whites. And only 6.2% of adult blacls received medications for mental health concerns versus the 13.9 % adult whites in 2008.

Their history of marginalization, more negative views of the world, and exposure to discrimination may increase skepticism surrounding treatment. Thus, counselors should establish a sense of trust and acknowledge the cultural mistrust, on a human-to-human level, at the very first meeting. These experiences may be difficult to discuss; however, clinicians should take initiative and incorporate them into treatment. African Americans clients need to feel very comfortable with their counselors before they can commit to therapy. This allows for better communication and relationship.

The client is a African American female that was brought into the agency by her adoptive parents that are of a low socioeconomic standing. Research shows children of African American decent are more likely to be referred to mental health agencies at much younger ages than their Euro American peers and are much more likely to have been referred by a social service or criminal justice agency (Tucker & Dixon, 2009). The client was not referred for services in this case, but has been involved in social services in the past due to neglect. Therefore, As a social worker one must be mindful of this statistic in the assessment of a African American client.