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National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

July 2022

National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month is observed each July to bring awareness to the unique struggles that racial and ethnic minority communities face regarding mental illness in the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it harder for racial and ethnic minority groups to get access to mental health and substance-use treatment services.

Mental health conditions do not discriminate based on race, color, gender or identity. Anyone can experience the challenge of mental illness regardless of their background. However, background and identity can make access to mental health treatment much more difficult. National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month was established in 2008 to start changing this. Each year millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental health condition.

John Head, author of ‘Standing In The Shadows,’ provides that “depression is terrible in its own right—painful, destructive, isolating, often lethal and frequently tied to alcohol and drug abuse—but, when it is experienced by Black men, the suffering and inequity are compounded. Black men aren’t supposed to need help dealing with depression.”

Americans in minority communities often face more barriers to recovery due to lack of access to healthcare, lower rates of medical coverage, cultural insensitivity of providers, bias and discrimination in the delivery of care, language barriers, and higher levels of stigma.

Is there hope? Yes, there is hope. When you start treatment early and play a strong role in your own recovery process you can live a full and successful life. Culturally competent care can improve access to and quality of treatment and services. This means better outcomes.

“All around me there is a solid wall. A wall of trouble and confusion, I done tired of it all.

 I believe, I believe I’ve been blue too long."

--B. B. King and Dave Clark

The National Alliance on Mental Illness provides some guides for recognizing indications that help may be needed.

Signs that someone may need support:

 
Feeling very sad or withdrawn for more than two weeks. For example, crying regularly, feeling fatigued, and feeling  unmotivated.

• Trying to harm or kill oneself or making plans to do so.
• Out-of-control, risk-taking behavior that can cause harm to self or others.
• Sudden overwhelming fear for no reason, sometimes with a racing heart, physical discomfort, or fast breathing.
• Severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships.
• Repeated use of drugs or alcohol.
• Extreme difficulty in concentrating or staying still that can lead to failure in school or problems at work.
• Intense worries or fears that get in the way of daily activities like hanging out with friends or going to class or work.

Ways to get help:

• Talk to your doctor
• Get a referral to a mental health specialist
• Work together with your mental health provider to integrate your culture into your treatment plan
• Learn more about mental health, visit www.nami.org

“…we would never tell someone with a broken leg that they should stop wallowing and get it together…

…we shouldn’t treat mental health conditions any differently…”

--Michelle Obama

Bebe Moore Campbell, founder of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Urban Los Angeles Chapter, said in 2005, “Once my loved ones accepted (my) diagnosis, healing began for the entire family, but it took too long. It took years. Can’t we, as a nation, begin to speed up that process? We need a national campaign to destigmatize mental illness, especially one targeted toward African Americans…It’s not shameful to have a mental illness. Get treatment. Recovery is possible.”