African American Mental Health Sociology

This issue may be something systematic and deeply rooted in history. From a psychology perspective mental health is an issue in the African American community due to unmet needs and barriers within the community. From the National Alliance on Mental Health, “African Americans are 20% more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population.” It is environmental and socioeconomic reasons that may impact mental health such as exposure to violence, which is more common for black children to experience. Homelessness also creates a greater risk, in NAMI statistics, “African Americans make up 40% of the homeless population.” Issues within this one are lack of understanding on what a mental health is, there is a lack of resources to get information. While Mental health is a problem that any race can experience, there is a cultural view on mental health that may cause African Americans to avoid …show more content…
According to NAMI,” Only about one-quarter of African Americans seek mental health care, compared to 40% of whites.” This is due to distrust and misdiagnosis; distrust may arise from the lack of Psychologist that can understand from a cultural perspective. There is the stereotype of the typical psychologist being a white male with glasses speaking with no real emotion. In Psychology Today article,”How Therapists Drive Away Minority Clients”, “One example of this can be seen in the experience of race-based trauma, as many White therapists are dismissive of the impact of racism on their minority clients.(Williams,2013)” Psychologist put in a conscious effort to not seem racially biased, when it can possibly affect their credibility as a psychologist. The colorblind approach is what drives African Americans aways, with there being 2% African American psychologist according to APA there's