Mental health affects everyone regardless of culture, race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. In fact, 1 out of every 5 adults in America experience a mental illness. American Indians and Alaska Natives in particular, experience higher rates of living with a mental health condition, compared with their counterparts. However, critical issues are faced by all minorities in gaining access to and benefiting from support for mental health including:
- Less likely to receive treatment
- Less access to treatment
- Poorer quality of care
- Higher levels of stigma
- Culturally insensitive health care system
- Racism, bias, homophobia or discrimination in treatment settings
- Language barriers
- Lower rates of health insurance
Each mental illness has its own symptoms, but there are common signs of mental illness which include the following:
- Excessive worrying or fear
- Feeling excessively sad or low
- Confused thinking or problems concentrating and learning
- Extreme mood changes, including uncontrollable “highs” or feelings of euphoria
- Prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger
- Avoiding friends and social activities
- Difficulties understanding or relating to other people
- Changes in sleeping habits or feeling tired and low energy
- Changes in eating habits such as increased hunger or lack of appetite
- Changes in sex drive
- Difficulty perceiving reality (delusions or hallucinations, in which a person experiences and senses things that don’t exist in objective reality)
- Inability to perceive changes in one’s own feelings, behavior or personality
- Abuse of substances like alcohol or drugs
- Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches, vague and ongoing “aches and pains”)
- Thinking about suicide
- Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress
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