This Distorted Perceptions original article explores the intersection of ageism and behavioral health stigmas, and the “double challenges” that can result for older adults with behavioral health conditions. In summary, both stigmas are alive and well, and although positive cultural changes are beginning to occur we must “address the stigma of being an older person in a culture that under-values aging, as well as the stigma of being someone with a behavioral health challenge in a culture that views those challenges with fear and contempt.”
Study: Internalizing aging stigma can injure mental health.
“A 2014 study showed that negative self perceptions of ageing were associated not only with poorer physical health outcomes but also more severe depressive symptoms. This is supported by findings from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, which showed a higher risk of onset of depression and anxiety among those with negative ageing perceptions. Finally, several other studies have found that negative age beliefs can exacerbate stress.”
Not the same old, same old.
"'10,000 Americans turn 65 every day. Geriatricians are in increasingly short supply. So medical schools have begun teaching all students how to care for an aging population. Tackling ageism is a big part of it. ‘You need to make sure students basically like older patients. See them as individuals worthy of love and care.'"
To improve minority mental health, research must put patients first
“One of our greatest challenges is in helping patients in minority communities live with serious mental illness. One in six U.S. adults has an illness like depression, bipolar disorder, or anxiety disorder, but African Americans are 10 percent more likely, and Latinos 40 percent more likely, to experience serious psychological distress than non-Hispanic whites. And those minority populations are only half as likely to receive needed treatment or counseling as non-Hispanic whites. Statistics are even worse for American Indians and Alaska Natives… So how do we make a dent in these discouraging statistics? It will require a multi-pronged approach.” Click the title to access the full article from The Hill.
Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity
How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease: An Interview with Jonathan Metzl
“Before the 60s, Ionia doctors viewed schizophrenia as an illness that afflicted nonviolent, white, petty criminals, including the hospital's considerable population of women from rural Michigan… By the mid- to late-1960s, however, schizophrenia was a diagnosis disproportionately applied to the hospital's growing population of African American men from urban Detroit. Perhaps the most shocking evidence I uncovered was that hospital charts "diagnosed" these men in part because of their symptoms, but also because of their connections to the civil rights movement.” Click the title for the entire article by Psychology Today.
Welcome to Barbershop Therapy
Infographic: Minority Mental Health
Click the title to check out this infographic on minority mental health by Mental Health America. It breaks down the U.S. population by race/ethnicity, the prevalence of mental health and substance use issues among minorities, barriers to getting help (hint: stigma), and some interesting trends in mental health screening.