Past experimentations and trials have caused distrust of the healthcare system within the Black community. Certain beliefs about mental health are upheld within the Black community and often ignored. In Faye A. Gary’s (2009) study, stigma creates barriers for minority groups, impeding treatment and well-being and developing preventable mortalities and morbidities. Earlise and Susan’s research (2010) shows that Black women hold beliefs about mental illnesses, including stigmas. They hypothesized that Black women cope with mental illness through informal support networks. Both authors surveyed Black women within hair salons, churches, etc., hoping to identify the different beliefs about mental illnesses. The study concluded that previous assumptions, family stress, work-related stress, racism, and discrimination are positively associated with psychological distress within minority populations. This idea has been perpetuated since the beginning of healthcare and continues to plague the Black community. As Alexandria Okeke’s (2013) research paper shows, the advancement of healthcare started with the experimentation of Black and Brown women. Looking to Holden, K. B., Bradford, L. D., Hall, S. P., & Belton, A. S. (2013), Black women are not always accounted for in clinical trials. Hence, they often go underdiagnosed, misdiagnosed, and undertreated. The mistrust of the mental healthcare system evolved into something bigger, internalized stigma. In Woods-Giscombe, C., Robinson, M. N., Carthon, D., Devane-Johnson, S., & Corbie-Smith, G. (2016) study, they hypothesize that mental health stigma and self-concealment are both negatively associated with help-seeking attitudes and have shown that Black women seek treatment as a lesser rate than their White counterparts.
Sources:
Gary F. A. (2005). Stigma: barrier to mental health care among ethnic minorities. Issues in mental health nursing, 26(10), 979–999. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840500280638
Ward EC, Heidrich SM. African American women’s beliefs about mental illness, stigma, and preferred coping behaviors. Res Nurs Health. 2009 Oct;32(5):480-92. doi: 10.1002/nur.20344. PMID: 19650070; PMCID: PMC2854624.
Okeke, A. (2013). A culture of stigma: Black Women and Mental Health. scholarworks. Retrieved February 10, 2022, from https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1053&context=univ_lib_ura
Holden, K. B., Bradford, L. D., Hall, S. P., & Belton, A. S. (2013). Prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms and resiliency among African American women in a community-based primary health care center. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 24(4), 79–93.
Woods-Giscombe, C., Robinson, M. N., Carthon, D., Devane-Johnson, S., & Corbie-Smith, G. (2016). Superwoman schema, stigma, spirituality, and culturally sensitive providers: Factors influencing African American women’s use of Mental Health Services. Journal of best practices in health professions diversity: research, education, and policy.