Mental Health and Ethnic Minorities

Black History Month always resurfaces a multiplicity of issues involving social justice, lack of academic and occupational progress, rates of medical diseases, history, slavery, racial segregation, and current concerns for a microcosm, the African American community, within the larger sphere. Rarely do we ever hear discussion about mental health among ethnic minorities during this time.

To watch insightful videos on the struggles of ethnic minorities and mental health, click below:

• Mental health in the Latina/Latino or Hispanic culture

• Mental health in the African American culture

• Mental health and African American men and boys

• Mental health in the Native American culture
• Perspectives on Native American mental health

• Mental health in the Asian American/Pacific Islander culture

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health:

The death rate from suicide for African American men was almost 6 times that for African American women, in 2008.

African Americans are 20% more likely to report having  serious psychological distress than Non-Hispanic Whites.

Older Asian American women have the highest suicide  rate of all women over age 65 in the United States.

Suicide attempts for Hispanic girls, grades 9-12, were   70% higher than for White girls in the same age group, in 2011.

While the overall death rate from suicide for American  Indian/Alaska Natives is comparable to the White population, adolescent  American Indian/Alaska Natives have death rates at twice the rate for Whites in the same age groups.

National Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander mental health data is limited at this time. Data will be published as it is released in reports published by the CDC.

Read more about culture and mental health here: http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/