NAMI - National Alliance for Mentally Ill - a great resource and advocacy group
Please watch this video posted on youtube by naminj -- March 12, 2010 — South Asian Mental Health Awareness in Jersey (SAMHAJ), a NAMI NJ program, held an evening of celebration to benefit the program on March 22, 2009, at the North Brunswick Township High School Auditorium. Over 200 community members gathered to show their support for the cause, and to enjoy an evening of entertainment that included elegant Kathak and Bharatanatyam dance by Neha Sehgal and the Shishya School of Performing Arts, and lively popular music by Central Jersey singers Hidden Gems.
End mental health discrimination
In this short youtube video posted by ttcnow2008 -- January 15, 2009 — Stevie, Kate and Yvonne talk about how people can help friends or family who have a mental illness.
http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cre/fact2.asp
Need for Mental Health Care
Our knowledge of the mental health needs of AA/PIs is limited. National epidemiological studies have included few AA/PIs or people whose English is limited. The largest study to focus on AA/PIs (i.e., the CAPES study) examined the prevalence of mood disorders in a predominantly immigrant Chinese American sample. This study found lifetime and one-year prevalence rates for depression of about 7% and 3%, respectively. These rates are roughly equal to general rates found in the same urban area.
While overall prevalence rates of diagnosable mental illnesses among AA/PIs appear similar to those of the white population, when symptom scales are used, AA/PIs show higher levels of depressive symptoms than do white Americans. Furthermore, Chinese Americans are more likely to exhibit somatic complaints of depression than are African Americans or non-Hispanic whites. Small studies of symptoms of emotional distress have found few differences between AAPI youth and white youth.
AA/PIs may experience culture-bound syndromes such as neurasthenia and hwa-byung Neurasthenia is characterized by fatigue, weakness, poor concentration, memory loss, irritability, aches and pains, and sleep disturbances. Hwa-byung, or "suppressed anger syndrome," is characterized by symptoms such as constriction in the chest, palpitations, flushing, headache, dysphoria, anxiety, and poor concentration.
Compared to the suicide rate of white Americans (12.8 per 100,000 per year), the rates for Filipino (3.5), Chinese (8.3), and Japanese (9.1) Americans are substantially lower. However, Native Hawaiian adolescents have a higher risk of suicide than other adolescents in Hawaii, and older Asian American women have the highest suicide rate of all women over age 65 in the United States. There is also a growing concern about increasing suicide rates in the Pacific Basin.
Need for Mental Health Care
Our knowledge of the mental health needs of AA/PIs is limited. National epidemiological studies have included few AA/PIs or people whose English is limited. The largest study to focus on AA/PIs (i.e., the CAPES study) examined the prevalence of mood disorders in a predominantly immigrant Chinese American sample. This study found lifetime and one-year prevalence rates for depression of about 7% and 3%, respectively. These rates are roughly equal to general rates found in the same urban area.
While overall prevalence rates of diagnosable mental illnesses among AA/PIs appear similar to those of the white population, when symptom scales are used, AA/PIs show higher levels of depressive symptoms than do white Americans. Furthermore, Chinese Americans are more likely to exhibit somatic complaints of depression than are African Americans or non-Hispanic whites. Small studies of symptoms of emotional distress have found few differences between AAPI youth and white youth.
AA/PIs may experience culture-bound syndromes such as neurasthenia and hwa-byung Neurasthenia is characterized by fatigue, weakness, poor concentration, memory loss, irritability, aches and pains, and sleep disturbances. Hwa-byung, or "suppressed anger syndrome," is characterized by symptoms such as constriction in the chest, palpitations, flushing, headache, dysphoria, anxiety, and poor concentration.
Compared to the suicide rate of white Americans (12.8 per 100,000 per year), the rates for Filipino (3.5), Chinese (8.3), and Japanese (9.1) Americans are substantially lower. However, Native Hawaiian adolescents have a higher risk of suicide than other adolescents in Hawaii, and older Asian American women have the highest suicide rate of all women over age 65 in the United States. There is also a growing concern about increasing suicide rates in the Pacific Basin.
Availability of Mental Health Services
Nearly 1 out of 2 AA/PIs will have difficulty accessing mental health treatment because they do not speak English or cannot find services that meet their language needs. Approximately 70 AAPI providers are available for every 100,000 AA/PIs in the U.S., compared to 173 per 100,000 whites. No reliable information is available regarding the Asian language capabilities of mental health providers in the U.S.
Access to Mental Health Services
Overall about 21% of AA/PIs lack health insurance, compared to 16% of all Americans. The rate of Medicaid coverage for eligible AA/PI families is well below that of whites. For example, among families with incomes below 200% of the Federal poverty level, whites are twice as likely as Chinese Americans to enroll in Medicaid. It has been suggested that lower Medicaid participation rates are, in part, due to widespread but mistaken concerns among immigrants that enrolling in Medicaid jeopardizes applications for citizenship.
Use of Mental Health Services
AA/PIs appear to have the extremely low utilization of mental health services relative to other U.S. populations. For example, in the CAPES study, only 17% of those experiencing problems sought care. Among AA/PIs who use services, severity of disturbance tends to be high, perhaps because AA/PIs tend to delay seeking treatment until symptoms reach crisis proportions. While more research is needed, shame and stigma are believed to figure prominently in the lower utilization rates of AA/PI communities. AA/PIs tend to use complementary therapies at rates equal to or higher than white Americans.
Appropriateness and Outcomes of Mental Health Services
Few studies examine the response of minorities to mental health treatment. One study found that AAPI clients had poorer short-term outcomes and less satisfaction with individual psychotherapy than did white Americans. Another study found that older Chinese Americans with symptoms of depression responded to cognitive-behavior therapy as did other multiethnic populations. AA/PI clients matched with therapists of the same ethnicity are less likely to drop out of treatment than those without an ethnic match. Preliminary studies suggest that AA/PIs respond clinically to psychotropic medicines in a manner similar to white Americans but at lower average dosages. Research is needed to identify key components of culturally appropriate services for AA/PIs.
Need for Mental Health Care
Our knowledge of the mental health needs of AA/PIs is limited. National epidemiological studies have included few AA/PIs or people whose English is limited. The largest study to focus on AA/PIs (i.e., the CAPES study) examined the prevalence of mood disorders in a predominantly immigrant Chinese American sample. This study found lifetime and one-year prevalence rates for depression of about 7% and 3%, respectively. These rates are roughly equal to general rates found in the same urban area.
While overall prevalence rates of diagnosable mental illnesses among AA/PIs appear similar to those of the white population, when symptom scales are used, AA/PIs show higher levels of depressive symptoms than do white Americans. Furthermore, Chinese Americans are more likely to exhibit somatic complaints of depression than are African Americans or non-Hispanic whites. Small studies of symptoms of emotional distress have found few differences between AAPI youth and white youth.
AA/PIs may experience culture-bound syndromes such as neurasthenia and hwa-byung Neurasthenia is characterized by fatigue, weakness, poor concentration, memory loss, irritability, aches and pains, and sleep disturbances. Hwa-byung, or "suppressed anger syndrome," is characterized by symptoms such as constriction in the chest, palpitations, flushing, headache, dysphoria, anxiety, and poor concentration.
Compared to the suicide rate of white Americans (12.8 per 100,000 per year), the rates for Filipino (3.5), Chinese (8.3), and Japanese (9.1) Americans are substantially lower. However, Native Hawaiian adolescents have a higher risk of suicide than other adolescents in Hawaii, and older Asian American women have the highest suicide rate of all women over age 65 in the United States. There is also a growing concern about increasing suicide rates in the Pacific Basin.
Need for Mental Health Care
Our knowledge of the mental health needs of AA/PIs is limited. National epidemiological studies have included few AA/PIs or people whose English is limited. The largest study to focus on AA/PIs (i.e., the CAPES study) examined the prevalence of mood disorders in a predominantly immigrant Chinese American sample. This study found lifetime and one-year prevalence rates for depression of about 7% and 3%, respectively. These rates are roughly equal to general rates found in the same urban area.
While overall prevalence rates of diagnosable mental illnesses among AA/PIs appear similar to those of the white population, when symptom scales are used, AA/PIs show higher levels of depressive symptoms than do white Americans. Furthermore, Chinese Americans are more likely to exhibit somatic complaints of depression than are African Americans or non-Hispanic whites. Small studies of symptoms of emotional distress have found few differences between AAPI youth and white youth.
AA/PIs may experience culture-bound syndromes such as neurasthenia and hwa-byung Neurasthenia is characterized by fatigue, weakness, poor concentration, memory loss, irritability, aches and pains, and sleep disturbances. Hwa-byung, or "suppressed anger syndrome," is characterized by symptoms such as constriction in the chest, palpitations, flushing, headache, dysphoria, anxiety, and poor concentration.
Compared to the suicide rate of white Americans (12.8 per 100,000 per year), the rates for Filipino (3.5), Chinese (8.3), and Japanese (9.1) Americans are substantially lower. However, Native Hawaiian adolescents have a higher risk of suicide than other adolescents in Hawaii, and older Asian American women have the highest suicide rate of all women over age 65 in the United States. There is also a growing concern about increasing suicide rates in the Pacific Basin.
Availability of Mental Health Services
Nearly 1 out of 2 AA/PIs will have difficulty accessing mental health treatment because they do not speak English or cannot find services that meet their language needs. Approximately 70 AAPI providers are available for every 100,000 AA/PIs in the U.S., compared to 173 per 100,000 whites. No reliable information is available regarding the Asian language capabilities of mental health providers in the U.S.
Access to Mental Health Services
Overall about 21% of AA/PIs lack health insurance, compared to 16% of all Americans. The rate of Medicaid coverage for eligible AA/PI families is well below that of whites. For example, among families with incomes below 200% of the Federal poverty level, whites are twice as likely as Chinese Americans to enroll in Medicaid. It has been suggested that lower Medicaid participation rates are, in part, due to widespread but mistaken concerns among immigrants that enrolling in Medicaid jeopardizes applications for citizenship.
Use of Mental Health Services
AA/PIs appear to have the extremely low utilization of mental health services relative to other U.S. populations. For example, in the CAPES study, only 17% of those experiencing problems sought care. Among AA/PIs who use services, severity of disturbance tends to be high, perhaps because AA/PIs tend to delay seeking treatment until symptoms reach crisis proportions. While more research is needed, shame and stigma are believed to figure prominently in the lower utilization rates of AA/PI communities. AA/PIs tend to use complementary therapies at rates equal to or higher than white Americans.
Appropriateness and Outcomes of Mental Health Services
Few studies examine the response of minorities to mental health treatment. One study found that AAPI clients had poorer short-term outcomes and less satisfaction with individual psychotherapy than did white Americans. Another study found that older Chinese Americans with symptoms of depression responded to cognitive-behavior therapy as did other multiethnic populations. AA/PI clients matched with therapists of the same ethnicity are less likely to drop out of treatment than those without an ethnic match. Preliminary studies suggest that AA/PIs respond clinically to psychotropic medicines in a manner similar to white Americans but at lower average dosages. Research is needed to identify key components of culturally appropriate services for AA/PIs.