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accessHealthNews.net September 2023 - 10 - Volume 9 | Issue No. 74 M ental health disparities refer to the large gap between different populations in their quality of mental health and frequency and severity of mental health problems, especially among queer and trans people, people living near or below the poverty line, and people of color. While the fact that mental health disparities exist for groups facing more societal barriers to equitable quality of living may seem to be common sense, in reality, common sense does not provide the concrete evidence necessary to create legislation, the research necessary for nonprofits to secure fund grants for their work, or the media necessary to educate and convince the unaware of the importance of these public health subjects. Without thorough research to document these realities in detail, making real change, funding further research that will lead to improvements in quality of life, and closing the gaps in care between groups is nearly impossible. Poor mental health is a significant burden on the people who suffer with little practical recourse and on the public as a whole, and it is much more prevalent than commonly believed. Mental and substance use disorders are the third leading cause of disability in the United States. In 2021, over 14 million adults in the U.S. had a serious mental illness, meaning their daily functions were disrupted and putting them at higher risk of other health conditions. Social determinants of health lead to disparities not just in poor mental health, but also in the care the health care system can provide for mental health needs, ranging from access to care to levels of treatment engagement related to trust in the medical system. As always, groups other than white, cisgender, straight, middle- or upper- class people were disproportionately impacted. Racial and ethnic health disparities cost the U.S. economy $451 billion dollars in 2018, an amount which was significantly greater than the 2014 estimate anticipated. National estimates suggest that Black people who received a high school level of education compose the group who bore the brunt of that economic burden. This recent and groundbreaking information was revealed in the very first study to estimate the total economic burden of health disparities across racial and ethnic groups and education levels. The magnitude of the problems caused by layered manifestations of discrimination and their nuanced consequences was not shown by common sense or even with calculated estimates, after all. "Half the people with a mental health diagnosis are not receiving care in any given year," said presenter Dr. Joshua Gordeon, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, in a webinar on mental health disparities. "That means half of the people with a mental health diagnosis are not receiving care in any given year. And the fact that these are chronic illnesses means that people who need care are likely not getting it. But that story is even more concerning when one breaks out that percentage by racial and ethnic category, and it shows that individuals who are Black or Asian or Hispanic have dramatically lower rates of receiving any care for mental health in the past year." People who identify as American-Indian or Alaska Native have much higher rates of death by suicide than people who are white, and although other racial or ethnic minorities have historically had less risk of suicide for reasons that are not yet understood, that has changed in recent times. This is especially true among youth, particularly amongst Black youth, where rates of death by suicide have dramatically increased over the last 5 years such that Black preteens and teens are dying by suicide at equal or higher rates compared to white children. "In areas such as examining mental illness trajectories across the lifespan and developing novel treatments, we've emphasized NIMH's commitment to funding research that aims to reduce mental health disparities and promote health equity," Dr. Gordeon said. "With that, especially, is a renewed interest on understanding and importantly mitigating the impact of social determinants of health on mental illness trajectories. In particular, we have a focus on children. We have a focus on development because mental illnesses have their roots in early development, whether we're talking about genetic causes, environmental causes, or social causes, and so we need to understand and mitigate those impacts early in life." READ MORE In 2021, over 14 million adults in the U.S. had a serious mental illness, meaning their daily functions were disrupted and putting them at higher risk of other health conditions.

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