COURTLAND SUTTON
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MENTAL HEALTH STIGMA IN BY PETRUCE JEAN-CHARLES
According to a National Center for Biotechnology Information, Black Caribbeans are disproportionately represented in mental health statistics than their counterparts and that these studies often carry racial biases and often misrepresent people of color. According to a book titled “Ethnicity and Inequalities in Health and Social Care,” by a professor of social work Frank Keating, Caribbean people are more likely to receive harsher treatment in comparison to African Americans including seclusion, control, and constraints. These treatments contribute to negative perceptions of mental health within this community and cause Caribbeans to delay seeking help, especially men. “A factor that contributes to the disadvantages that African and Caribbean people experience in mental health services is the ‘risk agenda’ that has dominated mental health policy over the last number of years,” as stated in the book. Existing research revealed that the Caribbean community has depression rates at 12.9 percent, compared to African Americans at 10.4 percent. The study further explored areas of income, housing, and environment that contribute to the lack of healthcare that Caribbean communities receive.
The sample used for the study was selected from residential areas that had a large population of African American and Caribbean individuals, which made up 10 percent of the population. The response of mental health issues from Caribbean people was 77.7 percent compared to 70.7 percent for African Americans. “Caribbean Black’s background and community life experiences distinguish them enough from African Americans to modify associations found between perceived neighborhood characteristics and depression,” according to the study. Caribbean people tend to be prescribed drugs as a primary treatment instead of therapy, as a result suicide attempts are increasingly higher. The study shows that Caribbean men have the highest rates of attempted suicide among Black Americans, and are three times more likely to have their symptoms