Minority Mental Health Month: How Individuals Experience Different Challenges

Minority mental health month is an opportunity to raise awareness, promote equal care, and understand how a diverse range of experiences can shape mental health. For people of color, this month helps bring awareness to the importance of addressing systemic barriers to care, reducing stigma, and increasing community compassion and understanding.

National Minority Mental Health Month: Promoting mental health awareness and recognizing challenges 

Although mental health disorders do not discriminate based on gender, race, ethnicity, age, or other demographic factors, discrimination may still be present in the medical community. These lived experiences can make it harder for children, adults, and families to find care. Systemic obstacles – such as financial barriers to care, mental health stigma, and a lack of local mental health resources – may continue to exist in health care settings. This Minority Mental Health Month, which is celebrated every year in July, you can be an active agent in creating awareness of the mental health challenges faced by people in minority groups.

Exploring and celebrating Minority Mental Health Month every July

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five Americans experiences a mental illness each year, and minorities are no exception. Having a month dedicated specifically to them may help reduce disparities in care and expand resources for mental health care. 

Recognizing July as Minority Mental Health Month

Whether you are part of a minority group or not, you can effect change and support mental health care for minority communities. Below are some ideas to spread awareness:

• Educate yourself and then tell others about what you’ve learned.
• Encourage your loved ones to seek mental health help when they need it.
• Use social media and word-of-mouth to spread important information.
• Get involved in local campaigns that celebrate or help individuals in minority groups.
• Attend events centered on the needs or concerns of people in minority groups.
• Organize a group to have an open dialogue and spread awareness.
• Speak up when you hear something that is incorrect, hurtful, or biased.

No matter how you choose to recognize Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, your voice matters and can make a difference. You can become a positive force in the fight to eliminate stigmas and make mental health care more accessible for people in minority groups.

Children, families and adults — how experiences differ across life-stages

The mental health challenges that children, adults, and collective families face may differ. A teenager experiencing bullying may, for example, suffer low self-esteem. Meanwhile, family members going through divorce may experience grief or loneliness. Each example shows that all people – including people of color – experience different mental health challenges over the course of their life.

Examples of lived experience & stories from people of color

When people of color share their lived experiences it can raise compassion, understanding, and awareness across communities. In interviews from 2023, six women of color share their experience on mental health. Patricia Bustillo R emphasizes that “taking care of your mental health is not very common in our Hispanic culture.” When experiencing mental and emotional challenges, Raynique Syas also says that “telling people means I’m weak; it means I can’t; it means I’ve failed.” Each example shows how women of color face mental health stigma across the world. With raised awareness – via personal stories, news coverage, and open discussions – mental health care can improve in minority communities. 

Resilience, healing, and next steps

To support minority mental health, communities can come together in various ways. Each individual can act by educating themselves and others, listening to stories from people of color, and advocating for equitable healthcare policies. As well as raising awareness, the next steps are about building resilience and encouraging personal healing. Online therapy is one way for people to benefit from affordable, convenient, and compassionate care. 

Mental health awareness: Supporting the mental health of people in minority groups 

Individuals from minority groups can face inequality in everyday life as well as in the mental health care system. Supporting the mental health of these communities is something in which everyone can participate. Below are a few strategies for supporting the mental health needs of people in minority communities:

Be encouraging

Sometimes, people just need someone to listen to them. There are situations in which someone may not know where to turn next. When this happens, you might recommend that they seek the support of a therapist, whether in person or online, and check in on them every now and again.

Ask questions

It’s okay to be curious about people from different cultures and backgrounds. However, rather than making assumptions, you might try respectfully asking questions when they’re appropriate. If someone doesn’t want to talk about the same topic you’d like to discuss, this doesn’t necessarily mean they never will; it may just be that the time isn’t right. 

Take the time to learn: There are plenty of resources available whenever you’re ready to learn about minority communities and the mental health challenges they may experience. From books to documentaries to online studies, there is helpful information available. Educating yourself about different cultures and the unique obstacles they may face can help you gain more understanding and empathy for the people around you.

Show respect and empathy

Part of showing respect is often realizing that you don’t have all the answers and there may be some things you don’t quite understand. You can still speak with kindness, empathy, and respect and listen attentively.

Avoid contributing to stigmas

Making assumptions, giving in to stereotypes, or labeling people can cause harm, even if it’s unintended. Instead, you might seek to gain an understanding of the things with which you’re unfamiliar and try to pick up as much knowledge as you can. If you make a mistake, you can apologize, learn from it, and be careful not to repeat it in the future.

Mental health can be a difficult topic to discuss, especially with so many factors at play. Since everyone thinks about and approaches mental health differently, each conversation you have may vary. It may help to remain sensitive, especially with topics like mental health. The more you learn, the more you may be able to help educate others, spread awareness, and ultimately create positive change in the world.

Understanding common mental health challenges during National Minority Mental Health Month

Underdiagnosis or misdiagnosis: A lack of cultural understanding from mental health professionals can create scenarios in which someone’s condition is either misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all. Their mental health concerns may be downplayed or not taken seriously. They may also face language barriers, and there can be cultural differences in describing symptoms. Further, there may be stigmas surrounding mental illness among some minority groups, which can create a delay in diagnosis and ultimately treatment.

Persistent depression: Although research shows that the rates of depression are lower for people who are Black or Hispanic than for people who are white, research also shows that depression can last longer in minority populations. In addition, the type of depression being experienced is more likely to be described as severe or debilitating.

Fatigue: Individuals from minority communities may frequently encounter stressors like racism and other types of discrimination. Over time, the exhaustion from dealing with prejudice, micro-aggressions, and other challenges can create a kind of fatigue that adds to a person’s mental health challenges.

Lack of awareness: In general, those belonging to a minority group may be less educated about mental health. This may be especially true when a cultural stigma surrounding mental health exists in their community. The result is that many individuals do not reach out for support when they need it.

Anxiety: Many things can create anxiety disorders, one of them being lack of income. Statistically, people in minority groups are more likely to come from lower-income backgrounds. Feeling constant pressure and worry about money can cause people to develop anxiety and other concerns.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Those from minority groups may be more likely to experience traumatic events, such as domestic violence,* rape, gun violence, or assault. These events, especially when they aren’t discussed, may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.

Lack of care: Even if someone receives a diagnosis or wants to reach out for mental health care, they may not have the means to do so. Lack of income, transportation problems, and social stigmas can create barriers to receiving support.

Accessing mental health resources in minority communities

Finding mental health resources in some minority communities can be challenging and some research suggests that people of color are more likely to be uninsured than their white counterparts. However, there are some indigenous and community-led organizations that provide equal, evidence-based care. Organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may provide free health screening or low-cost health care. These organizations may also help people get referred for advanced care.  

Why screening and early intervention matter: The stages of minority mental health care

Before seeking treatment, understanding the stages of health care, otherwise known as health literacy, can alleviate anxiety and depression among patients. Patients may feel more comfortable and at ease during health care visits. Since early screening, intervention, and treatment can improve health care outcomes, there’s an importance for patients to feel safe and secure during visitations. Free and affordable healthcare also enables individuals to act on symptoms early. 

Effective treatment options

For potential treatment options for the conditions listed above, please see below.

Multicultural counseling

Multicultural counseling describes a type of practice that takes into account how someone’s mental health may be influenced by their cultural identity. Identity could include aspects like race, religion, income, disabilities, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, health conditions, immigration status, living environment, and more.

For decades, most counseling positions were filled by white men. People of color, as well as women, were less likely to become counselors. Even today, the distribution of available counselors does not reflect the demographics of the country. Due to this disparity, people in minority communities may have a harder time finding a therapist who can understand their life experiences and relate more easily to them.

Training in multicultural counseling can equip professionals of all backgrounds to be sensitive to the unique needs and challenges of minorities. Whether there are concerns stemming from racism, discrimination, or other experiences, counselors who are trained in multicultural counseling can be better equipped to offer the right support. Multicultural counseling can increase empathy and, in many cases, improve the client’s overall experience in therapy.

Online therapy

If you’re experiencing mental health challenges, whether related to your background or not, you may benefit from speaking with a licensed therapist in your community. If you don’t feel comfortable going to a therapist’s office, you might consider online therapy. With an online therapy service like BetterHelp, you can be matched with a therapist from a similar background as yours, and you can communicate with them via live chat, phone, videoconferencing, and in-app messaging.

Numerous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of online therapy. One study published in Psychotherapy Research found that internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) had advantages like “lower cost, no travel time, no waitlists, and trackable progress.”