Mental Health
Black Americans are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and other symptoms of emotional distress than white Americans, yet they’re also less likely to receive treatment. In our spotlight on mental health, #BlackHealthFacts: Highlighting the Issues and Influencing Change, Patrice Harris, MD, a psychiatrist and Everyday Health’s medical editor in chief at large, looks at how stigma, mistrust of the healthcare system, and other factors have contributed to this lack of care and how Black Americans can get better help in the future.
Watch the Video Series and Check Out Our #BlackHealthFacts Resource Center
Mistrust of the Healthcare System Among Black Americans Negatively Impacts Their Health
A history of mistreatment, such as in the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee, as well as existing socioeconomic and healthcare inequities, are among the factors contributing to this mistrust.
Watch Episode 2: Why Is Trust in the Healthcare System Critical to Improve Black Americans' Health?
Learn more at The Commonwealth Fund.
Finding Culturally Responsive Care Is Hard for Black Americans
Finding a mental health care provider who’s a good fit for you can be a challenge, but Dr. Harris says don’t give up. “The key is to ask questions. You may not find the perfect fit or a good fit on your first try. Keep trying,” she encourages.
Watch Episode 3: How Can I Find a Mental Health Professional Who Is a Good Fit for Me?
Learn more via the American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological Association.
It’s Vital to Prioritize Self-Care for Mental Health
Getting regular exercise, sleeping eight hours a night, and eating a healthy diet are all important. “We want to make sure that we prioritize ourselves and we practice self-care,” Harris says.
Watch Episode 4: How Can Self-Care Improve Our Overall Health?
Learn more in JAMA Network Open.
High Maternal Mortality in Black Women Is Representative of a Larger Problem
Black women are more likely to experience these preventable deaths than white women. “We need to make sure that women are heard and that their complaints are taken seriously, whether that’s around pain or leg swelling or their depressed mood,” Harris says.
Watch Episode 6: How Is the Healthcare System Failing Black Women?
Learn More at CDC and in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Mental Health Problems Among Young Black Adults
Black young adults ages 18 to 25 experience higher rates of mental health problems and lower rates of mental health service utilization compared with their white counterparts.
Learn more at Columbia University Department of Psychiatry.
Black Americans Are Less Likely to Seek Mental Health Treatment
Only 33 percent of Black Americans with any mental illness sought help from mental health services in 2019, while 50 percent of white Americans did. Mental illness-related stigma, lack of trust in the healthcare system, lack of ethnic and racial diversity among providers, and lack of insurance or underinsurance are just a few factors contributing to this disparity, but there are numerous organizations that can help.
Learn more about these Mental Health Resources for Black Americans and get more info on the facts and stats from the CDC's National Health Interview Survey and HHS's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Millions Report Mental Illness
Black Americans adults are more likely to have feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and worthlessness than white adults, and 16 percent reported having a mental illness in the past year.
Learn more at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health and Mental Health America.
Rise in Suicidal Thoughts and Attempts
In 2018, 2.4 percent of Black Americans ages 18 to 25 made a suicide attempt, compared with 1.5 percent in 2008.
Learn more at Mental Health America.
Chronic Conditions
New HIV Diagnoses Are Highest Among Black People
HIV stigma, discrimination, homophobia, and socioeconomic issues all play a role in preventing some Black Americans from accessing HIV prevention and care services. Widespread prevention and testing services within communities could help end the epidemic.
Learn more at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Colorectal Cancer Disparities Seen Among African Americans
These disparities are largely driven by socioeconomic inequalities that result in different access to early detection and timely, high-quality treatment. Equity in care, from prevention to early detection to participation in clinical trials and individualized treatment, is necessary to eliminate these disparities.
Learn more at the American Cancer Society.
RELATED: Chadwick Boseman’s Death Highlights Changing Trends in Colorectal Cancer
Greater Risk for PAD and Delay in Treatment
African Americans are more likely to have peripheral artery disease (PAD) without showing symptoms, which delays treatment.
Learn more at the American Heart Association.
Largest Study Examines Cardiovascular Disease in Black Americans
The Jackson Heart Study (JHS) is the largest investigation of causes of cardiovascular disease in Black Americans, involving more than 5,300 men and women in Jackson, Mississippi.
Learn more in the Journal of the American Heart Association and the Jackson Heart Study.
Heart Failure Rates Higher Among Black Americans
Heart failure, a major public health problem, has increased most dramatically in young Black American men and women.
Learn more at the American Heart Association and in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
How Racism Can Lead to Chronic Disease
Chronic illnesses associated with experiencing racism include heart attack, neurodegenerative disease, and metastatic cancer.
Learn more in Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Study Enrolling African Americans With Multiple Sclerosis
The UCSF Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Project is enrolling patients with multiple sclerosis to better understand how and why MS affects African Americans the way it does.
Learn more in Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports.
RELATED: New Research Challenges Old Beliefs About MS Among African-Americans
Diabetes-Related Risks Greater Among African Americans
Compared with white Americans, African Americans are more likely to be diagnosed with end-stage renal disease (3.5 times), be hospitalized for lower limb amputations (2.3 times), experience visual impairment (1.6 times), and die from diabetes (2 times).
Learn more in the National Health Interview Survey.
RELATED: Diabetes in Black Americans
COVID-19
Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on Black Americans Has Lasting Effects
Although the overall COVID-19 burden among Black Americans declined after the first few months of the pandemic, Black Americans continued to be more impacted by infection, hospitalization, death, and incidence of long COVID compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Action and concrete steps are necessary to support equitable COVID-19 care and sustain recovery efforts for Black communities.
Learn more at the Black Coalition Against COVID-19.
Women's Health
Outcomes Are Worse for African American Women Diagnosed With Triple Negative Breast Cancer
The study examined 23,123 African American and white women who had been diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer.
Learn more in Jama Oncology.
RELATED: Closing the Gap in Breast Cancer Care and Support for Black Women
Black Women Are More Likely to Have High Blood Pressure
Black women are disproportionately affected by psychosocial stressors such as racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and caregiving stress — all of which are associated with greater hypertension and hypertension risk. Stress management may help reduce high blood pressure.
Learn more in Women’s Health.
Heart Disease and Stroke Risk Associated With Weight
People who are overweight are more likely to suffer from heart disease and stroke risk factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
Learn more at the U.S. Department of Human Services' Office of Minority Health.
Children's Health
Disparities in the Childhood Obesity Epidemic Persist
Food insecurity, structural racism, and COVID-19 have all impacted rates of obesity among Black children, with potential health consequences including an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Food justice, changes to federal policies, and prioritizing health equity could all help ensure that children will grow up healthy.
Learn more at the State of Childhood Obesity.
Disparities in Birthing Mortality for Newborns
A 2020 study found that Black newborns were more likely to die in the hospital than white newborns when cared for by white physicians. The authors did not offer a reason but wrote that “it gives warrant for hospitals and other care organizations to invest in efforts to reduce such biases and explore their connection to institutional racism.”
Learn more in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Racial Identity Can Lessen Impact of Discrimination
Discrimination’s long-term negative impact is moderated when a child understands and identifies with his or her racial or ethnic group.
Learn more in Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.
Asthma Prevalence Among Black American Children
Learn more in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).
Studies Find Children of African Descent More Vulnerable to MIS-C
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), which affects blood vessels and organs, has symptoms similar to those of Kawasaki disease.
Learn more in the BMJ and The Lancet.
More Topics
Black Americans Likely Receive Less Preventive Care, Worsening Outcomes
In an analysis of $2.4 trillion in healthcare spending between 2002 and 2016, the type of care received in the United States varied by race and ethnicity. Black Americans spent more on urgent care, suggesting that they have less access to primary healthcare, according to study coauthor Joseph Dieleman.
Learn more at JAMA.
Health Insurance Coverage Among Black Americans
Although the number of uninsured Black Americans has dropped by 8 percent since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the uninsured rate is still higher for Black Americans than for white Americans. Outreach efforts to expand and maintain coverage in underserved communities can help get more people enrolled.
Learn more at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Participation of Black Americans in Clinical Trials
More representation is necessary for better health outcomes for Black Americans. Involving more people in the oversight of trials who look and think like the underrepresented groups could increase participation of these groups.
Learn more at JAMA Network Open.
Disparities in the Treatment of Pain
Racial bias and discrimination contribute to inequities in pain experiences and pain care. Compared to their white counterparts, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) patients’ pain is underestimated by providers, they receive less comprehensive diagnoses, and they have less access to pain medications, particularly opioids — often the appropriate treatment for severe pain.
Learn more in Practical Pain Management.
The Top 10 U.S. Counties That Lack Adequately Nutritious Food Are Predominantly African American
Learn more at Feeding America.
African Americans and Smoking
