Improving the mental health and wellness of Black Americans requires acknowledging and confronting systemic racism underlying the U.S. political, social, and health care systems that create and maintain racial inequality in every aspect of life for Black people in the U.S.
Centuries of systemic racism have created vast disparities in mental care for Black people in the U.S., leading to unfavorable health outcomes and increased illness. Due to racism, Black Americans are exposed to several risk factors for mental illness, including lower-quality education, impoverished neighborhoods with high rates of homelessness, and exposure to violence with high rates of police brutality.
The new Series of three papers on Black mental health in the U.S., plus an essay from Black Americans with lived experience, published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal, outlines the overwhelming evidence for the role racism plays in producing, maintaining, and amplifying mental health disparities for Black Americans. Against this background, the authors call for a comprehensive analysis of the conditions and systems in which racism can produce mental health issues while highlighting the potential of community-driven action to reduce inequitable mental health care and outcomes among Black Americans.
Read more at MedicalXpress.com.
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