Title: Cultural Perspectives on Mental Health
Headings: Module 7: Cultural Perspectives on Mental Health
Module 7: Cultural Perspectives on Mental Health
Stigma, Discrimination, and Mental Health
Cultural Perspectives on Mental Illness
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Footnotes

Content: While European Americans tended to view psychiatric medications as “central and necessary” aspects of treatment, African American participants reported frustration over mental health professionals’ focus on medication. Furthermore, Latino participants often viewed clinical diagnoses as “potentially very socially damaging”, preferring to describe their mental health conditions more generally as nervios, which was perceived to hold less stigma. Because African Americans and Latinos in the U.S. are significantly less likely to seek and receive mental health care compared to European Americans, investigating possible cultural contributions to this usage pattern may help efforts to increase uptake of mental health care services. ( 9)
Bailey et al. ( 2011) also report negative attitudes toward health care professionals among many African Americans, noting that stigma, religious beliefs, distrust of the medical profession, and communication barriers may contribute to African Americans’ wariness of mental health services. ( 10) In a 2007 study, approximately 63% of African Americans viewed depression as a “personal weakness”, 30% reported that they would deal with depression themselves, and only one-third reported that they would accept medication for depression if prescribed by a medical professional. ( 11) Because African Americans are less likely to receive proper diagnosis and treatment for depression and are more likely to have depression for longer periods, African Americans’ perceptions of mental illness and the medical profession should be taken into account in efforts to improve mental health care access. ( 12)
Although the reasons for stigmatization are not consistent across communities or cultures, perceived stigma by individuals living with mental illness is reported internationally. For instance, the World Mental Health Surveys showed that stigma was closely associated with anxiety and mood disorders among adults reporting significant disability. The survey data, which included responses from 16 countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific, showed that 22.1% of participants from developing countries and 11.7% of participants from developed countries experienced embarrassment and discrimination due to their mental illness.