Understanding and addressing the stigma of mental illness with ethnic minority communities

Stigma of mental illness and multicultural counseling self-efficacy : investigating the implications of the multicultural training environment, mental health literacy, and empathy.

“…Gary (2005) focused on what she called the "double stigma" of having a mental illness and being a member of a minority group, such as a racial minority. Knifton (2012) echoed this in a study of the severely socioeconomically disadvantaged, where he found that socially constructed differences such as stigma had increased negative effects on those groups with multiple disadvantages.…”

“…Identities and social memberships related to race and ethnicity have been found to be highly pertinent in the study of the stigma of mental illness and its role in mental health care disparities (Gary, 2005;Conner et al, 2009;Knifton, 2012;Stickney et al, 2012). This line of inquiry has let to increased discussion of how intersectionality with regard to the stigma of mental illness has differentiated the experience of this type of stigma for those who are also members of racial or ethnic minorities.…”

“…In addition to the role public stigma may have in setting the context in which it occurs, the nature of public stigma is made more complex by the fact that it is situationally influenced by the context and culture in which it occurs (Broman, 2012;Knifton, 2012;Pescosolido, 2013;Yang et al, 2007). Historical beliefs and current value systems of cultures, whether defined by race and ethnicity, geographical location (countries, townships, neighborhoods, or households), religious beliefs, or any number of possible cultural variants, form the framework in which mental illness stigma is understood and expressed.…”

“…Of primary concern to health care, including mental health care, is the impediment of mental illness stigma to treatment seeking among racial and ethnic minorities (Gary, 2005;Knifton, 2012). In a study of Black American and White American older adults, Conner, Koeske, and Brown (2009) investigated the effect of mental illness stigma on the relationship between race and attitudes toward mental health treatment.…”

“…Research that investigates mental illness stigma from the perspective of the individuals who are stigmatized suggests additional questions, as ethnic and racial minorities report more frequent experiences of stigma from general health care providers and mental health care providers than do their majority peers (Knifton, 2012). This perception of mental illness stigma by ethnic and racial minority mental health care consumers was a reported reason by those individuals for not seeking treatment or for shorter treatment duration Dobalian & Rivers, 2008).…”