National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. The goal of this initiative is to make all of us aware of the unique struggles that racial and ethnic minority communities face when dealing with mental illness.

Poor mental health outcomes in these populations are, in part, due to cultural stigma and lack of access to mental health care.

For example, the American Psychiatric Association shares that the African American population often receives poorer quality of care, and only one third of African Americans receive mental health care, when needed.

For minority groups, barriers to care include: stigma associated with mental illness, distrust of the health care system, lack of providers from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds, lack of culturally competent providers and lack of insurance/underinsurance.

The Office of Minority Health, within the US Department of Health and Human Services, has many resources on its website, as does the CDC (CDC.gov).

Lynnfield for Love encourages everyone, especially community leaders at all levels, to have positive discussions around mental health issues to reduce stigma and expand culturally responsive mental health care.

Here’s a book suggestion from the Lynnfield Public Library related to National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month: “What my Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma” by Stephanie Foo.