As I write this entry, it is the beginning of July, and with a new month brings a new focus. July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, and I would like to explore this topic in today’s post. Most of today’s information comes from the following page of NAMI’s website: https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Raise-Awareness/Awareness-Events/National-Minority-Mental-Health-Awareness-Month
National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month was started in 2008 to educate others that mental illness does not discriminate based on race, gender, color, or identity. Anyone can experience the challenges of mental illness, but background and identity can make access to mental health treatment more difficult. While taking on the challenges of mental health conditions, insurance coverage, and stigma involves all of us, in many communities these problems are increased by less access to care, cultural stigma, and a lower quality of care.
Although National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month has now been around for over 10 years, this is very likely the first time I have wrote about it or talked about it in my blog. In fact, I do not know if I have spent any time talking about mental illness in different cultures or in minority populations. Sadly, I do not know much about the issues here, and I need to do a better job of understanding how experiences and perceptions differ. This is definitely not a subject of expertise for me, but awareness is at least one way to start. Of course, once we are aware of the challenges and issues, we need to start thinking about solutions.
How about you? Have you heard of National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month? What do you know about the intersection of mental health and cultural differences? I encourage you to learn more about this month as a way to understand the experience of mental health or illness in other cultural groups.