Sec. 601. Mental health findings
405 words·~2 min read·
/bill/116/hr/6637/ih/section-601A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: Despite the existence of effective treatments, inequities lie in the availability, accessibility, and quality of mental health services for racial and ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. These inequities have powerful significance for minority groups and for society as a whole. Racial and ethnic minorities and people with disabilities bear a greater burden from unmet mental health needs and thus suffer a greater loss to their overall health and productivity.
Improving community conditions and one’s home environment, paired with high-quality, accessible, and culturally tailored mental health services, can reduce the likelihood, frequency, and intensity of challenges to one’s mental health. The presence of strong social connections and trust, opportunities to experience and share cultural identity, safe gathering places, and economic opportunity are community factors that benefit mental health. The social, physical, and economic conditions in communities can have tremendous influence on daily stressors that shape mental health outcomes.
The foremost barriers include the cost of care, societal stigma, and the fragmented organization of services. People with disabilities who are racial or ethnic minorities may have co-occurring mental health conditions which, without proper accommodations and support, further stigmatize them and limit their participation in society. African-American, Latinx, Asian-American, Pacific Islander, Native, and other people of color have attitudes toward mental health challenges that are another barrier to seeking mental health care.
Mental illness retains considerable stigma in many communities of color, including those of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and seeking treatment is not always encouraged. Addressing mental health stigma and increasing culturally appropriate treatment modalities in communities will help to increase utilization of mental health services for people who have trouble functioning because of mental health challenges. There is a link between mental health diagnosis and the likelihood of an individual committing suicide.
A comprehensive public health approach to behavioral health fosters protective factors in racial and ethnic communities that support mental health. Approaches to mental health and addressing trauma must keep in mind the historical and cultural trauma that has impacted many communities of color. Treatment modalities must keep individual communities’ approaches to mental health in mind, for example— cultural healing practices; and the mental health professionals needed to provide those services such as peer support specialists.
Approaches to mental health and addressing trauma must keep in mind the concept of intersectionality of individuals; that individuals may have many inequities that shape the way they process and experience everyday life.