Did you know that July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month? The goal of this campaign is to educate our community about the importance of mental health and treatment and to help break down barriers so that racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. have access to services and higher quality of care. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 7.5% (2.5 million) of young adults age 18 to 25 had a serious mental illness including 7.6% of non-Hispanic Asians, 5.7% of Hispanics and 4.6% of non-Hispanic blacks in 2017. Additionally, 10.5% (3.5 million) of young adults age 18 to 25 had serious thoughts of suicide including 8.3% of non-Hispanic blacks and 9.2% of Hispanics in 2017 as well. And with the current events of the pandemic and racial violence, people in some racial and ethnic minority groups may start to experience more signs of stress and anxiety. Limited access to mental healthcare and quality of services is a risk factor to poor mental health outcomes among minority groups, including suicide.
Source: https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/content.aspx?ID=9447
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