FACT: Minorities seek professional help and are served at disproportionately lower rates than non-minorities dealing with mental illness and mental health concerns.
We minimize what we can’t change and deal with what we think we can handle. There are significant disparities in how people in racial and ethnic minority groups are treated in the mental health field. The list of reasons why minorities aren’t being treated is long is valid and still disappointing.
Reasons why minorities aren’t getting what they need.
Affordability
A lack of availability
Uninsured or underinsured
Transportation issues
Childcare needs
Missed time from work
Ineffective treatment
Associated stigma
Language barriers
No culturally inclusive or competent providers
Racism, bias, and discrimination by providers and in treatment settings
It’s a bad break, no matter how you slice it. So, how are people holding on and holding firm in the meantime? They aren’t! Minorities are suffering and usually in silence.
There are political ways to affect change, but we don’t have time to unpack political agendas and devise strategies. However, please still vote! It’s essential to be heard and supported by those making decisions that’ll impact us. Here are three straightforward but powerful things that can be done now!
3 Steps to Activate Healing
1. Acknowledge the problem.
We deserve to discuss our challenges, pain, trauma, or problems unapologetically. We can’t heal what hurts if we don’t acknowledge the pressure point. It won’t go away. Identifying the problem will not cause us to crumble. Not calling it by its name will cause us to fall to our knees.
2. Tell someone you trust about the problem.
Validation and empathy are like food for the soul! Vulnerability in stable relationships produces freedom from the stress of what we may not be able to change at that moment. We don’t share for fear of judgment, and that makes sense. It’s oversharing or communicating with the wrong people that make matters worse. 3. Create a list of Benefits and Burdens that the problem causes. Sometimes, we may be bothered by things that may benefit us. (ex: breakups). Other times, a problem is just what it is and burdens our mental and emotional health. If we experience feelings of hopelessness, long bouts of sadness, or changes in our physical health due to stress, the problem is a burden. When we look at the cost of carrying weight, we realize that it may be time to make some changes. Let that ish go!
Consider the possibility that you’ll have been your greatest advocate. Advocate for yourself to heal in painful areas that you’ve been dealing with on your own. I challenge you to try these three steps to activate your healing. If your burdens list is long (more than two items), please check out my resource page for more guidance.