Image Credit: Photo by Omar Lopez on Unsplash

July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. During this month, we’re encouraged to advocate for improved access to mental health in minority communities. The term “minority” includes not only racial and ethnic minorities, but also religious groups, refugees and immigrants, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Mental Health America has selected a specific theme for July 2019, “Depth of My Identity.” They are asking people “to share the depth of your identity and how it relates to your mental health journey.”

Identity is a broad concept. It can include so many different aspects: our appearance, ethnicity, race, abilities, talents, beliefs, values, and more. There is one major piece of identity that needs to be better addressed in our mental health care system: culture.

How Culture Impacts Attitudes Toward Mental Health

Culture is a beautiful aspect of our lives, but it can also negatively impact our attitudes toward mental health. Mental illness is still stigmatized in many cultures. People may be reluctant to even talk about mental health, let alone seek treatment. For example, one study found that participants from the African American community were “not very open to acknowledging psychological problems,” and they were also reluctant to seek professional help.

A culture may even contribute to mental disorders. For example, eating disorders are more common in western countries than eastern ones, likely due to western ideals of thinness and beauty.

Some cultures may not even acknowledge mental illness, instead attributing symptoms to religious or spiritual causes. Beliefs like this present a barrier to accessing care, since individuals may be more comfortable seeking help from a spiritual leader than a mental health professional.

Despite the ways culture can stigmatize mental illness and make it harder to access treatment, it’s still necessary to address mental health in the context of culture. Culture is so intertwined with identity that mental health professionals cannot ignore this aspect of an individual’s life.

Cultural Competence in Mental Health Care

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) defines cultural competence as, “behaviors, attitudes and skills that allow a health care provider to work effectively with different cultural groups.” Cultural competence is something that we must all learn, because we only have our own cultural background as a reference point.

Each culture has its own unique set of values, language, and ideas. In order to provide the best care, mental health professionals must become fluent in a client’s culture. Otherwise, the client won’t feel fully understood.

There is a delicate balance between respecting an individual’s cultural beliefs and leaving stigmatizing beliefs unchallenged. This is where cultural competence can help. If a clinician understands where a belief is coming from, they can respectfully challenge it and show how it is negatively impacting mental health.

Benefits of a Culturally Competent Provider

When we find a therapist or psychiatrist who understands our unique cultural perspective, we can be comfortable opening up to this person. This makes all the difference in quality of care, since we know we are talking to someone who understands us. A culturally competent therapist frees us to begin the journey to healing.

From a practical standpoint, also consider the languages spoken by a therapist. We best express ourselves in our primary language. Even if you are fluent in a second language, you may have better treatment outcomes if you find a therapist who is fluent in your native tongue.

How to Find a Culturally Competent Mental Health Professional

Finding such a provider is not a quick or easy process, but when you find the right fit, it’s worthwhile. Start with an online search for providers in your area. There are many directories that list individual therapists and psychiatrists. Try to find someone who has worked with people from your cultural background before, or who even shares your background.

Once you’ve narrowed down your results, contact individual providers and ask if they are familiar with cultural competence in mental health practice. NAMI recommends asking additional questions to gauge their familiarity with your culture, their openness to learning about it, and how they would incorporate your culture into treatment.

Even if the therapist isn’t familiar with your culture, that doesn’t mean they are a bad fit. If they are willing to learn and you feel comfortable with them, they may be the perfect therapist for you.

This Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, we should take a moment to consider how our own cultural backgrounds have shaped our beliefs about mental health. If you currently see a mental health professional, how have they incorporated your cultural identity into your care? If the thought of seeking out mental health services makes you uncomfortable, could this be related to stigma ingrained in your culture? Together, we can challenge those beliefs. Through advocacy and support, we can transform our mental health care system so that it provides effective care for all.