July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. So what stigmas do people of color with mental illness face? A recent article in Bustle tackles the topic and helps provide an understanding of the dangerous differences for those facing mental health challenges.
From Bustle:
In the world of mental health awareness, there are myriad stigmas that make it harder to get treatment. For people of color who live with mental illness, those stigmas can be compounding. Whether it’s the dangerous myth that Black men are “too strong” to seek mental health treatment, or that only certain women can experience an eating disorder, these stigmas are incredibly damaging, and often render people of color who experience mental health issues invisible.
But, of course, mental health issues affect people of any race or identity. According to Mental Health America (MHA), 8.9 million Latinx people in the U.S. live with a diagnosable mental illness, but, as the American Psychiatric Association (APA) found, only 36 percent of Latinx people with depression received care. And the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) reported that Black Americans are 20 percent more likely to be diagnosed with a serious mental health issue than the general population, but only 25 percent of Black Americans with mental illness receive treatment. What’s more, the APA reported that Indigenous Americans and Alaskans “experience serious psychological distress 1.5 times more than the general population,” and the rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Indigenous communities are twice that of the general U.S. population.
Long story short, mental illness is far from being a health issue that only affects some people, and for people of color, the particular stigmas around mental health they face can create a uniquely isolating experience. These mental health advocates tell Bustle the unique stigmas they face as a person of color who lives with mental illness, and how they combat them.
1. Alison Mariella Désir-Figueroa
“I think that the myth of the strong black woman plagued, and continues to plague me as an Afrolatina woman who suffers from anxiety and depression. The burden of typically always being seen as resilient, tough and a ‘boss’ doesn’t leave much room for vulnerability,” says Alison Mariella Désir-Figueroa, an entrepreneur, athlete, activist, and mental health counselor in training.
“After not being on medication for several years, I recently started taking an anti-anxiety medication again, and I had to wrestle myself away from the line of thinking that this was somehow a personal failure or a step back in the wrong direction,” she says. “The messages we receive about mental illness, and the negative stigmas associated with it are ones that we all must continue to speak openly about because, even as a mental health professional and mental health advocate, I am affected. Through my work and advocacy, I hope to create spaces and communities that normalize mental healthcare, particularly for people of color.”
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