Advocates hope National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month will usher in long-awaited reforms – Reckon

Since 2008, the US has observed National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month every July to highlight the “unique” struggles BIPOC people face when it comes to mental illness, but advocates say more reforms are needed to support marginalized groups.

The nonprofit organization Mental Health America hosts an annual campaign to commemorate Bebe Moore Campbell, an author and activist who wrote extensively about the impact of racism and the importance of holistic health. She co-founded the National Alliance of Mental Illness in Urban Los Angeles to address inequities in health care services and reduce mental health stigma.

This year’s theme is “Culture, Community, Connection”, highlighting the fact that our environment often impacts our mental health and encouraging us to support each other.

“As Black people, we tend not to talk about how we feel,” Dr. Lakeia Jones, founder of AMRI Counseling Services, said in a statement, “and then it comes out as anger, hurt and frustration. People see that and label you as crazy.”

Mental health advocates said diverse communities should have an open dialogue and prioritise wellbeing. There were also calls for greater diversity in mental health and wellbeing services.

Experts say people are more likely to seek help from people who look like them or come from similar backgrounds. In the United States, about 4% of therapists are black, and very few of them are men.

“To be honest, this statistic felt like pressure and was scary,” Cedric Dale Hoard, a licensed therapist at Christian Life Counseling, said in a statement. “But I realized it’s really important to be in that 1 percent. Think about the work you can do within that 1 percent.”

Research shows that racial and ethnic minorities face barriers to receiving equitable mental health care, including cultural differences, societal disparities, and discrimination. About 32 percent of people from minority groups receive treatment, compared with nearly 49 percent of white adults experiencing the same illness. According to the American Psychological Association, one in three black men who need mental health care receive treatment, and Asian Americans are also less likely to seek these services.

Research has shown that while some BIPOC groups suffer from mental illness at rates similar to white people, people of color tend to suffer from longer-lasting mental illnesses and carry a greater burden, but systemic barriers can lead to underdiagnosis in marginalized communities.

There are organizations that provide mental health care and resources to BIPOC communities, such as the Steve Fund, which provides resources to students of color, the Trevor Project, which provides crisis support to LGBTQ+ youth, and the Black Mental Health Alliance, which provides aid to communities of color.