Heart Disease and Mental Health Among Black Women
American Heart Association
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Heart Disease and Mental Health Among Black Women
Stressful life events — such as the death of a spouse or other family members, divorce, abuse, job loss or financial problems— are linked to HIGHER INCIDENTS of heart attack, stroke
and other types of cardiovascular disease in Black women.i
Disparities in mental health are due to STRUCTURAL RACISM and conditions in which people are born and live called SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH.ii
Women are at least TWICE AS LIKELY to experience an episode of major depression as men,iii and FEW AFRICAN AMERICANS receive any form of depression treatment.iv
Rates of mental health among Black people in the U.S. are similar to other groups. But SIGNIFICANT DISPARITIES among Black people exist in mental health services.v
Only 1 in 3 black people in America who need mental health services receives it.vi
Barriers to quality care include:
- Stigma associated with mental illness
- Distrust of the healthcare sector
- Lack of providers from diverse backgrounds
- Lack of insurance, underinsurance vii
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i Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity - NCBI Bookshelf (nih.gov)
ii http://www.prevention.com/health/mental-health/a33686468/black-women-mental-health-crisis/
iii Products - Data Briefs - Number 303 - February 2018 (cdc.gov)
iv Prevalence and distribution of major depressive disorder in African Americans, Caribbean blacks, and non-Hispanic whites: results from the National Survey of American Life - PubMed (nih.gov)
v Primm A, et al. “Black Americans,” chapter in Disparities in Psychiatric Care. Ruiz and Primm editors. Washington, DC: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. 2010.
vi Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity - NCBI Bookshelf (nih.gov)
vii Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity - NCBI Bookshelf (nih.gov)
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