July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.
Did you know that folks of the global majority (nonwhite folks) face unique challenges when it comes to reporting mental health issues and getting help for these issues?
How does being a person of color impact mental health and access to care?
There’s nothing inherent about being a person of color that makes it challenging to access mental health care, but the oppressive systems that we live within have made it harder to thrive and access the care that we need when we do have mental health issues.
The impact of racism on folks of color and intersecting experiences of oppression increases stress and prevalence of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, PTSD, and serious mental health issues like schizophrenia, personality disorders, and more.
What’s intersectionality?
Intersectionality is a concept coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw that describes how experiencing marginalization based on one category can be exacerbated by also being in another category that experiences marginalization. For example, someone who is indigenous and transgender may experience marginalization or oppression based on both of these categories.
As Professor Crenshaw notes, “It’s not simply that there’s a race problem here, a gender problem here, and a class or LBGTQ problem there. Many times that framework erases what happens to people who are subject to all of these things.”
So, for folks that are both racial minorities and belong to one or more other marginalized groups, their mental health is impacted by each of those additional factors.
Minority mental health statistics:
Annual prevalence of mental illness among US adults by racial group:
- Non-Hispanic Asian: 16.4%
- Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: 18.1%
- Non-Hispanic Black or African American: 21.4%
- Hispanic or Latino: 20.7%
- Non-Hispanic White: 23.9%
- Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native: 26.6%
- Non-Hispanic mixed/multiracial: 34.9%
Annual treatment rates among U.S. adults with mental illness, by racial group:
- Non-Hispanic Asian: 25.4%
- Hispanic or Latino: 36.1%
- Non-Hispanic Black or African American: 39.4%
- Non-Hispanic White: 52.4%
- Non-Hispanic mixed/multiracial: 52.2%
Annual rates of serious thoughts of suicide:
- U.S. Adults: annual average 4.8%
Many folks of color don’t report mental health challenges or mental illness because of cultural stigma, so these rates are likely underreported.
What resources are out there for BIPOC mental health?
There are plenty of resources out there for folks of color, from counseling groups centering on folks of color to advocacy and resource groups on the web, like Sad Girls Club, Therapy for Black Girls, and South Asian Therapists.
What can I do to support BIPOC mental health?
You can learn about social determinants of health and intersectionality.
If your therapist or a therapy collective in your area has options to pay into a fund for folks who need financial help accessing care, pay into that fund.
You can also begin or continue your work managing your racial bias and racism and educate those around you about these issues.
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