Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month!  To me, this is all encompassing.  It means raising awareness of mental health barriers for racial and ethnic minorities, as well as sexual and religious minorities.  So many people experience these barriers.  While it is not vital for all people to find a mental health professional who is just like them culturally, it is important to find someone who understands minority issues and how they may or may not contribute to the presenting mental health issues.  No person is an island and we are all influenced by societal, political, and cultural factors.  While no mental health professional is going to know everything about every culture, those who have training and interest in minority mental health are certainly out there. 

Visit http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Multicultural_Support&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=157438 for more information.  

I would love to start a conversation about minority mental health.  Comment on some of the barriers that you see in your communities.  Talk about your own struggles with finding appropriate minority mental health care.  Offer some suggestions for how we can improve minority mental health access and services.  Comment on this blog, tweet me @fpschDrSweeney and use the hashtag #minoritymentalhealth, or email me directly at ssweeney@fpsch.com.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!