Mental disorders are amongst the most common health concerns in the world today. This is particularly the case in the modern-day workplace (McGregor, 2017). Over the years, there have been constant improvements in the existing knowledge on the disparities that exist in both mental health care and mental health status. This knowledge is often aimed at informing policies that are geared towards reducing such disparity. One notable inequity with regard to mental health is race (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). This paper is aimed at exploring race as a critical aspect of mental health equity.
There is a consensus amongst scholars that inequities in mental health often exhibit a pattern that deviates from the general health-related inequities. In particular, minorities, especially African Americans, portray poorer general health and health outcomes compared to Whites ( National Alliance on Mental Illness , 2017; McGuire & Miranda , 2008; Breslau et al., 2006 ). Interestingly, it has been shown that individuals from minority groups exhibit lower or equivalent rates of mental ailments in comparison with the whites. Breslau et al. (2006) reckon that both Blacks and Hispanics portray lower levels of lifetime risk of mental disorders compared to whites. These results were attained using a representative sample of an English-speaking population in the United States (U.S).
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Given that the poverty levels of minority groups are considerably high compared to those of their white counterparts, the disproportionate risk of mental disorders across these racial groups is somewhat surprising. For instance, since poor health and poverty are often positively related to mental ailments, one would expect that such ethnic minorities as Latinos and African Americans would record higher incidences of mental disorders. The Hispanic Americans show advantages when compared to the white Americans at both younger and older ages. However, Hispanic Americans may be disadvantaged in their middle years ( McGuire & Miranda , 2008). Asian Americans, except those of Hawaiian origin, are the only individuals that are likely to exhibit advantages in so far as mental health is concerned.
Several exceptions exist with regard to the prevalence of mental health disorders across racial groups, as highlighted above. For instance, American Indians have higher risks of alcohol dependence, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to whites ( McGuire & Miranda , 2008). Also, compared to the whites, blacks are likely to exhibit higher incidences of schizophrenia. Despite such exceptions, disparities exist with regard to the manifestation of mental health disorders in the majority and minority groups.
References
Breslau, J., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Kendler, K. S., Su, M., Williams, D., & Kessler, R. C. (2006). Specifying race-ethnic differences in risk for psychiatric disorder in a USA national sample. Psychological medicine , 36 (1), 57-68.
McGregor, J. (2017). The mental health email shared 'round the world . Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2017/07/14/the-mental-health-email-shared-round-the-world/
McGuire, T. G., & Miranda, J. (2008). New evidence regarding racial and ethnic disparities in mental health: Policy implications. Health Affairs , 27 (2), 393-403.
Nati onal Alliance on Mental Illness (2017). The doctor is out: Continuing disparities in access to mental and physical health care.
National Institute of Mental Health (n.d.). Minority m ental h ealth r esearch p rogram . Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/organization/od/odwd/minority-mental-health-research-program.shtml
