Studies show that there is a disproportionately small number of racial and ethnic minorities receiving therapy and mental health services because of a social stigma in minority cultures.
Mental health services are used by around 17% of Blacks, 15% of Latinos and 10% of Asians, according to a May 26, 2021 ABC News article.
San Jose State psychology lecturer Neelam Rattan said many of these minority communities follow a collectivistic model and rely on social support from within their respective communities.
Collectivistic is a term in psychology that refers to an individual who is an interdependent member of a group or community, according to an April 14 Simple Psychology article.
Rattan said mental illness can be viewed as shameful in minority communities, leading to further stigmatization of individuals receiving treatment because acknowledging a mental illness can lead to being outcast.
“In some Southeast Asian cultures, one may express anxiety or depression as a physical malady,” Rattan said. “Hence somatic symptoms most of the time replace emotional complaints in cultures which consider mental illness as a stigma.”
Somatic symptom disorder is a condition where an individual feels notably distressed about physical symptoms and has abnormal reactions to these symptoms interfering with their everyday life, according to an article by Cleveland Clinic.
She said having a mental health professional with a similar background as the client can help in the process of receiving mental health services.
There has been a serious lack of diversity of mental health professionals, according to the same ABC News article.
In the psychology workforce, Asians account for 5% of workers, Latinos for 5% and Blacks for 5%, according to the article.
Because of the underrepresentation of minorities within the psychology field, clients from marginalized communities may feel disconnected with their therapists who are likely to have a different background than them.
“For instance a client from a collectivistic background may be seeking help in dealing with the emotions of guilt when this client is dating outside of their community and is now [in disagreement] with their father because of this,” Rattan said. “Their therapist counsels them to become more assertive. The client stops coming in for therapy.”
This discourages and prevents minorities from receiving help because they may feel like professionals having different values creates a struggle in therapy.
Rattan said even with language translation services being provided, lack of diversity helps breed cultural insensitivities that lead to negative health outcomes, including higher dropout rates for treatment.
“There is a plethora of research that shows that our marginalized communities feel that their providers do not understand their needs, and hence they feel dissatisfied with the care that they receive,” she said.
Kell Fujimoto, senior director of student well-being for Counseling and Psychological Services, said the medical professionals they have on campus are diverse and trained to help out any student.
“We feel it's very important for [the staff] to look like the campus community and for students to come in and to be able to identify counselors who they may look like,” Fujimoto said. “[It] doesn't necessarily mean that they need to be matched up with that same identity, because we all feel that we can provide and be mindful of cultural differences and differences in experiences.”
Public health junior Kaylin Ma, who is Chinese American, said she believes in her culture, using mental health services is seen as being weak.
She said this is especially the case for first generation children growing up in an immigrant parent household.
“A lot of immigrant parents come to America for that American dream, and they've gone through war, concentration camps,” Ma said. “If your child says, ‘Oh, I have a mental health issue’ it's kind of, like, a disappointment, because your parents have tried so hard to get you to succeed.”
Ma said generational trauma is also a recurring issue that happens within minority communities.
Transgenerational trauma is the concept of traumatizing events including genocide, abuse, oppression and racial disparities, which have lasting affects on the next generation, according to a July 3, 2021 Psychology Today article.
Though people from the offspring generation may not experience traumatic events, the trauma of their ancestors can be passed down through generations and genetics resulting in anxiety, depression and PTSD, according to the same Psychology Today article.
Ma said environmental factors play a significant role in generational trauma and the effects it has on minorities.
“This ties into social determinants of health, which is the environment that you're raised in,” Ma said. “Such as good resources for food, health services, education, all impact one's overall [well]being. Even the simple things are hard to get like food, nutrition sources, education, health care benefits.”
While these services are readily available on campus, in the U.S. Mental health resources are often inaccessible to minority and low-income communities, according to a study published by the National Council of Mental Wellbeing.
According to the America Mental Health Study in 2018, 42% of the U.S. population experienced insurance insufficiency and high cost struggles.
As much as 38% of the population have to wait longer than one week for treatment, leaving limited options for immediate service in dire situations. Meanwhile, 29% of Americans don’t know where to look for mental health resources and 21% of adults wanted to seek out treatments but were not able to because of situations out of their control.
There are several barriers between people who want mental health services and receiving them.
“It's realistic [to receive services,] because we're students,” Ma said. “It's affordable because it's free. And even though it is free, it takes a long time to book an appointment itself. But if you weren't a student, and you're just a regular adult, without these resources, it's very, very expensive.”
Kayla Lam, vice president of the Public Health Student Association at SJSU, said in her experience working in nursing homes, her clients from older generations had mixed views of mental health.
“The concept of talking to someone about your feelings can be a challenge especially since many generations of Americans have been raised to keep our feelings to themselves because it’s selfish,” Lam said.
She said generational trauma is a significant factor contributing to the judgment of mental health services from older generations, specifically with minority communities resisting being treated for mental health issues.
“Within my realm of being part of the Asian community, I can see it also be a generational trauma,” Lam said. “With my grandmother coming out of the Vietnam War, witnessing scenes that are unfathomable, and talking about your inner feelings from a dangerous time can readmit horrible thoughts.
She said her grandma never talked about life before immigrating to the U.S. to her and everything she knows came from her mom.
“My grandma doesn’t realize that her mental health and trauma had made a detrimental impact on my mom’s mental health,” Lam said.
Ma said for these communities to break the stigma, there needs to be more awareness of mental health and mental health services.
“For me, personally, I wouldn't have tried therapy,” Ma said. “I didn't try therapy until my friends were talking about it. Or that I knew that I could literally just book an appointment through the school website and get it.”
