Research shows only 1 in 3 Black adults with mental health issues receive care

Research shows only 1 in 3 Black adults with mental health issues receive care

Posted on February 16, 2021

“Just to get onto a level playing field [with people of other races], you’ve got to be two to three steps better than, so you can’t be vulnerable,” said Dan Gillison, CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “You can’t show any, what would be considered in the [Black] community, weakness.” Gillison says Black men and women have a difficult time showing vulnerability, and even getting to the point of admitting an issue, because of slavery and inequities that still harm communities of color. Research also shows that there are also socioeconomic factors that affect access to health care and exposure to contributing mental health factors, such as homelessness and crime. Gillison says, however, that the pandemic has started to open up conversations about mental health that have not previously circulated in communities of color. “You’re starting to see more people say, 'I live with, I exist with, I accomplished with this,' and it’s starting to resonate in communities of color,” Gillison said.