SLIDE 1: Title page
TITLE: Mental Health of Black Men: Breaking Barrier by Acknowledging issues, intersectionality and advocacy
SLIDE 2: Introduction
- Focused area: Disparities among black men regarding mental health conditions
- Mental health is still hidden from view and ignored because of stigma (Givens, 2020).
- The complexity of race, gender, and systems (Thomas Tobin et al., 2020)
- A further reason came up, which was the need for advocacy and awareness of this kind of information.
SLIDE 1: Title page
TITLE: Mental Health of Black Men: Breaking Barrier by Acknowledging issues, intersectionality and advocacy
SLIDE 2: Introduction
- Focused area: Disparities among black men regarding mental health conditions
- Mental health is still hidden from view and ignored because of stigma (Givens, 2020).
- The complexity of race, gender, and systems (Thomas Tobin et al., 2020)
- A further reason came up, which was the need for advocacy and awareness of this kind of information.
Figure 1: Prevalence of Mental health issues among African Americans in 2022
(Source: Vankar, 2024)
SN:
Hello! everyone, this presentation is going to be dedicated to the mental health disparities concerning Black men. Stigma, culture and systematic injustices do not allow Black people to actively seek mental health services. I will examine how these dimensions have an interconnection and impact the process in Black men’s case. However, I will briefly focus on the use of advocacy in these challenges.
Figure 1: Prevalence of Mental health issues among African Americans in 2022
(Source: Vankar, 2024)
SN:
Hello! everyone, this presentation is going to be dedicated to the mental health disparities concerning Black men. Stigma, culture and systematic injustices do not allow Black people to actively seek mental health services. I will examine how these dimensions have an interconnection and impact the process in Black men’s case. However, I will briefly focus on the use of advocacy in these challenges.
SN:
Hello! everyone, this presentation is going to be dedicated to the mental health disparities concerning Black men. Stigma, culture and systematic injustices do not allow Black people to actively seek mental health services. I will examine how these dimensions have an interconnection and impact the process in Black men’s case. However, I will briefly focus on the use of advocacy in these challenges.
SLIDE 3: Identification of Issues: Mental Health Disparities
- Lack of or restricted health care support.
- Negative attitudes or stigma associated with mental illness (Johnson et al., 2024).
- Skepticism towards the mental healthcare systems (Johnson et al., 2024).
- Demands and high levels of pressure together with diseases that may not be treated.
SN:
African American males are diagnosed with mental illnesses, receive treatment, and report stigmatized attitudes toward mental illness. Further, there is always a general lack of trust for treatment in health facilities ensconced in systemic cultures of distrust. This leads to very high levels of stress, anxiety and untreated mental illnesses in patients.
SLIDE 5: Identification of root cause
- Effects of racism and poverty at the system level (Cogburn et al., 2024).
- Lack of diversification when it comes to therapists (Bernard et al., 2023).
- The respondents associated higher exposure to violence and trauma with the medium.
- Misreports the prevalence of mental health issues (Bernard et al., 2023).
SN:
Poverty, Racism, and different perspectives regarding mental health care at the system level, lack of racial diversification, or availability of same ethnic group people as therapists. Moreover, higher exposure to social violence and trauma and the prevalence of higher stigma regarding mental health among patients develop significant challenges in acquiring mental healthcare for the African American people or the Black population.
SLIDE 4: Inequality and intersectionality
- Race, gender, or sex, and masculine omnipotence interrelate (Collins-Anderson et al., 2022).
- There are also, socioeconomic factors that worsen mental health complications (Yelton et al., 2022).
- Healthcare discrimination (Yelton et al., 2022).
- As earlier presented factors, racism, stigma, and poverty are related (Yelton et al., 2022).
Figure 3: Social Determinants of Health
(Source: Zacuto, 2024)
SN:
The complexity of race, gender, and societal demands on the black man puts a special and ignored psychological stress. The climax of the advertisements that imply that men are tough and should not cry, to seek help is anathema to the traditional manliness. These societal norms are complemented by racism in the health centers, unequal rates of resource distribution and lack of trust in the medical fraternity as a result of the Tuskegee experiment.
However, poverty, unemployment, and community violence affect the black man most making it even worse to deal with mental health issues if any. Racism in handling of the Blacks in particular the Black men makes it worse since they receive a raw deal, are misdiagnosed, or are denied culturally sensitive service. These factors not only negatively affect the effectiveness of treatment for mental illnesses but also maintain a continuous cycle that does not solve prejudice in health services and continues marginalization of people belonging to minorities.
SLIDE 6: Social Work: Role of Advocacy
- Increase cultural competence of mental health programs
- Policy work: Eliminate racially based disparities in healthcare
- Resources: Black Mental Health Alliance, NAMI Black/African American Community (NAMI, 2024).
- Endorse peer mentoring provision of services and engagement with the populace
- Examples: Counseling of Black Men, “BEAM” population (Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective)
SN:
Social workers are powerful spokespersons for Black male mental health. They advance culturally appropriate treatment to the Black populace and fight for justice and inequality in the health sector. There are some black mental health alliances and NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) that have helped fill the existing gaps in the black community.
Organizations like Therapy for Black Men provide directories of Black Therapists so that the sizeable population of the Black community can access mental health services easily. This is a comprehensive social justice advocacy group focused on demystifying stigma and encouraging emotional well-being through peer support and presentation, activist-supported community outreach, and education. Social workers mobilize with these organizations to develop and sustain change and encourage Black men to seek help.
SLIDE 7: Conclusion
- Eliminating the mechanisms of bias that prevent access to healthcare
- Benefits of culturally competent advocacy
- Social work strengthens and assists people and communities
- Challenging the stigma for mental health equality
SN:
Therefore, ending the neglected crisis of black males’ mental health entails countering such structures while encouraging African American male mental health services. Social workers work very closely with empowering people and communities at large. Ending marks prejudice and promoting changes can open up equal and much healthier paradigms.
SLIDE 8: References
Bernard, D. L., Gaskin-Wasson, A. L., Jones, S. C. T., Lee, D. B., Neal, A. J., Sosoo, E. E., Willis, H. A., & Neblett, E. W. (2023). Diversifying Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology: A Change Gonna Come. 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2023.2191284
Cogburn, C. D., Roberts, S. K., Ransome, Y., Addy, N., Hansen, H., & Jordan, A. (2024). The impact of racism on Black American mental health. The Lancet Psychiatry, 11(1), 56–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(23)00361-9
Collins-Anderson, A., Vahedi, L., Hutson, W., & Hudson, D. (2022). Intersectionality and mental health among emerging adult Black American Men: A scoping review. Current Psychiatry Reports, 24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-022-01386-5
Givens, D. (2020, August 25). The Extra Stigma of Mental Illness for African-Americans. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/well/mind/black-mental-health.html (Access 16 December, 2024)
Johnson, A., Amonoo, L., Lofton, S., & Powell-Roach, K. L. (2024). How Masculinity Impedes African American Men From Seeking Mental Health Treatment. American Journal of Men’s Health, 18(5). https://doi.org/10.1177/15579883241278846
NAMI. (2024). Black/African American | NAMI. Www.nami.org. https://www.nami.org/Your-Journey/Identity-and-Cultural-Dimensions/Black-African-American/ (Access 16 December, 2024)
Thomas Tobin, C. S., Erving, C. L., Hargrove, T. W., & Satcher, L. A. (2020). Is the Black-White mental health paradox consistent across age, gender, and psychiatric disorders? Aging & Mental Health, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2020.1855627
Vankar, P. (2024, January 25). African Americans with serious mental illness by age U.S. 2008-2019. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1117185/african-americans-with-serious-mental-illness-by-age/ (Access 16 December, 2024)
Yelton, B., Friedman, D. B., Noblet, S., Lohman, M. C., Arent, M. A., Macauda, M. M., Sakhuja, M., & Leith, K. H. (2022). Social Determinants of Health and Depression among African American Adults: A Scoping Review of Current Research. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1498. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031498
Zacuto, R. (2024, June 24). Examining Social Determinants of Health to Improve Brain Tumor Patient Quality of Life – NCI. Www.cancer.gov. https://www.cancer.gov/rare-brain-spine-tumor/blog/2024/examining-social-determinants-of-health-to-improve-brain-tumor-patient-quality-of-life (Access 16 December, 2024)
