The Two Articles I Have Chosen For This Assignment Both

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.

As Metzl highlights, the misdiagnosing of schizophrenia was used as a tool of social control in the 1960s and 1970s. Racist bias structured in social and political institutions pathologized the unrest and anger felt by African American communities and thus incarcerated disproportionally high numbers of Black men under the guise of mental illness. Ultimately, this pathologizing of emotions felt by African American communities persists today. The manner in which Black men and women express anger is pathologized by society and it warps how the public perceives unrest in the Black community, especially in interactions between protestors and

Statistics state that mental illness is estimated to be higher in blacks than in whites. One of the contributing factors to why blacks aren’t being cared for when they have a mental illness is because of the stigma that mental illness doesn’t exist within the community. According to Plowden (2006), “ African American men often differ in their presentation of depression and are often misdiagnosed. African American men are at greater risk for depression, but they are less likely to participate in mental health care.” This is due to the

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

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

Millions of men, women, and children are diagnosed with bipolar disorder each year in America. Women of all ethnicities are found to have a greater chance of experiencing symptoms of depression then men. And it is more likely to develop in Caucasian-Americans, but more likely reach severity in African-Americans. After diagnosis, generally a combination of mood stabilizing medication and psychotherapy are prescribed to counter the chronic symptoms. Many people with bipolar disorder do not receive the proper diagnosis or treatment after diagnosis. Without treatment the disorder is likely to worsen, causing severely depressive episodes or death. More than half of African-Americans

Per Vaterlaus, Skogrand, & Chaney (2015) studies have shown that African Americans reaching out for mental health services are perceived to be powerless or weak, and are often humiliated and feel embarrassed. In a study performed by (Ward, Wiltshire, Detry & Brown (2013) African Americans were found to be hesitant to confess any mental health problems and were more likely to cope using religious practices. In my opinion, African Americans are connected to

This includes costs being out of reach, hours being inflexible as well as a lack in brown or black doctors that would make brown and black people more comfortable and less alienated. On top of this, the presence of people of color research for mental health issues and proper care is nonexistent, therefore, often the results are not the same within the same treatments when given to people of

When providing treatment to address any co-occurring mental health diagnoses, agencies are encouraged to utilize evidence-based treatment. In the case of Tyrell he is a thirty year old African America male who presents with symptoms that support Bipolar Disorder and Amphetamine Abuse. In developing the theoretical framework for Tyrell important aspects to take into consideration are age and social setting. As it relates to Bipolar Disorder, it frequently appears in that late teens or early adulthood, which in Tyrell’s case he displayed his first symptoms during his undergraduate years. Additionally, the social setting, in the case the college campus is important because during college years is when individuals start “developing personal values, principles, independent thinking styles, and identity” and college students historically are known to

Often neglected, African Americans are disproportionately affected by mental illness yet it is downplayed and swept under the rug in the black community due to stigma. Mental illness is prevalent, yet African Americans experience shame and embarrassment discussing it, resulting in more severe cases of mental illnesses and a vicious cycle of ignorance. Besides unwillingness to admit to having a mental illness, there is also reluctance to participate in therapy because of factors such as the quality of care and costs. African American men are particularly harmed by the stigmas and the masculine portrayals stereotyping them as strong and unyielding, causing them to be less likely to seek treatment for mental illnesses. They are viewed as impenetrable

In this article, Patrick J. Corrigan, Scott B. Morris, Patrick W. Michaels, Jennifer D. Rafacz, and Nicolas Rüsch discuss various approaches to challenge the stigma that surrounds mental

Conversations regarding mental health can often be a difficult topic to discuss openly. The Huffington Post provided readers with the opportunity to understand mental illness and intersectionality in the article, 4 Black Women Writers Get Honest About Mental Illness and Race. This article provides a different perspective on mental health as it looks at mental illness through the intersectionality of race and gender. In the article, four black women participate in an interview to discuss their experience with depression, bi-polar disorder, and ADHD and how it affects their lives as both black and woman identified beings. Discussions of mental health in the black community are rare as there is a negative view of mental illness. Hearing

There is a dark stigma surrounding mental illness in general, and bipolar disorder is no exception. According to the Mental Health Commission of Western Australia, a stigma is “a mark of disgrace that sets someone apart.” Bipolar disorder is incredibly misunderstood by society at large, which leads to this stigma, prejudice, and discrimination. In everyday conversation, the word “bipolar” is frequently used to describe how someone is feeling at that moment. If a person is sad one moment and

As a black male, my demographic makes up approximately 2 percent of all psychiatrists, while black people make up 12% of the population. Black people are less likely than other ethnicities to seek help for mental problems, while these problems are more prevalent here than in every other ethnic groups. My goal is to help these people; to try to take the stigma out of a mental illness, and treat people – black, white, and every other race and ethnicity – who are struggling against their invisible

Specific Purpose: Persuade my audience to take steps to realize the truth behind mental illnesses instead of listening to the stigmas.