Mental Health in Need of Help for Racialized Communities

Mental Health concerns include high levels of anxiety, high risk of depression, and a high risk of addiction and violence.  Wouldn’t you want treatment if you were going through one of these concerns? Well racialized people do not get that help. “Social and economic impacts of racism have a negative impact on mental health prospects for racialized groups and Aboriginal communities” (Racial discrimination and mental health: Racialized and aboriginal communities, 2004).  Mental health systems are not getting the accurate mental health services needed for these communities and that is becoming a problem.

Racialized people have mental needs and they should be getting the support and attention they need “a few psychiatric services respond specifically with research, clinical support, programming, organizational change, health promotion or community collaboration that indicate cultural competence, understanding or awareness in a systemic manner.... but there is a lack of access, poor culturally appropriate access, services and low commitment to meaningful organizational change with sector”(Racial discrimination and mental health: Racialized and aboriginal communities, 2004). They cannot get the support needed if no one sees that there is nothing to help them and most members of these communities have no knowledge of the programs to be of any help. “There are many issues which affect equitable access to mental health services for members of racialized communities, these include: information only in English and French, few culturally specific outreach initiatives, poor referral relationships with community agencies, problematic physical location, and lack of awareness of community and community needs and issues by mainstream institutions” ( Racial discrimination and mental health: Racialized and aboriginal communities, 2004). All of these issues provide limitations for racialized people to access mental health needs.

Racial discrimination in mental health services cause “a disproportionate number of racialized groups and Aborginal populations with mental illnesses” (Racial discrimination and mental health: Racialized and aboriginal communities, 2004) which do not benefit them from prevention of mental illnesses. This is a serious problem because mental illness affects most of us at some point in our lives and getting the treatment necessary is important to better your life and yourself. “If racism is a cause of mental illness in ethnic minority groups, a public health approach may be needed to counter this. Acknowledgement and understanding of institutional racism in psychiatry and linked services such as housing, benefits and education could form the basis for secondary and tertiary preventive efforts.”(Does racial discrimination cause mental illness, 2001).

 

Alyssa

 

References:

Kafele, K. (2004, December). Racial discrimination and mental health: Racialized and aboriginal communities | Ontario Human Rights Commission. Ontario Human Rights Commission |. Retrieved from http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/racial-discrimination-and-mental-health-racialized-and-aboriginal-communities

McKENZIE, K. (2001). Does racial discrimination cause mental illness? The British Journal of Psychiatry. Retrieved from http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/180/6/475.full