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Categories BHARC Tags Behavioral Health, CEO Insights, Health, Mental Health, Special Populations

Protecting Minority Mental Health in the U.S.

Protecting Minority Mental Health in the U.S.

Mental illness is stigmatized in the U.S. and even more among minority communities and communities of color both nationally and internationally.  To help combat the mental illness stigma, the U.S. House of Representatives designated July as “Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month,” to “enhance public awareness of mental illness and mental illness among minorities.”  According to the American Psychiatric Association, more than 50 percent of all Americans will be part of a minority group by 2044.  The total incidence of mental illness, mental health outcomes of racial/ethnic, gender and sexual minorities will be much worse, writes Dr. Anton C. Bizzell in “Protecting Minority Mental Health in the U.S.,” published online in Psychology Today.

Racial and ethnic minorities have more to contend with when it comes to accepting and addressing mental health issues. “What’s done in this house, stays in this house” is a mantra heard by many minorities. Stress, substance abuse, unemployment or underemployment, incarceration, education, or lack thereof, shame and denial are all reasons that minorities and communities of color find themselves dealing with mental health related issues.  Everyone, especially communities of color, need to debunk the myths and stigmas associated with mental illness.  Seek help today.

READ MORE: Protecting Minority Mental Health in the U.S.

Categories HIV/AIDS Tags Behavioral Health, CEO Insights, Health, Infectious Disease, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), Thought Leadership

Mobile Clinics Tested as a Way to Treat Substance Use Disorders

Mobile Clinics Tested as a Way to Treat Substance Use Disorders

Mobile health units may be able to help manage HIV infections and opioid use disorder. A clinical trial, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, aims to determine mobile clinics’ effectiveness and usefulness in opioid use disorder treatment. The clinical trial will have 860 participants, for 26 weeks and in five cities—Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.  Researchers will evaluate whether these mobile health units will help people to treat opioid use disorder and prevent or receive care for HIV/AIDS.

“If they have HIV/AIDS, it can then be transferred to another person,” said Anton C. Bizzell, MD, a physician who advocates for addressing healthcare disparities and the chief executive order of the Bizzell Group, tells Verywell. “It’s also important to know that we can decrease the incidence of substance abuse, as well as infections that can occur.” People may be reluctant to access appropriate health care due to stigma and cost. Dr. Bizzell states that if you take the mobile clinics to where people live and work, they are more likely to receive care.

Read more: NIH-Funded Study Tests Mobile Clinics as a Way to Treat Substance Abuse

Image Source: Métraux, J. (2021). Verywell/LifeLineMobile [Online Picture]. Verywell Health. https://www.verywellhealth.com/study-investigates-if-mobile-clinics-will-help-people-with-opioid-use-disorder-5190855

Categories BHARC Tags Behavioral Health, CEO Insights, Health, Mental Health, PTSD

What You Need to Know About PTSD

What You Need to Know About PTSD

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) first entered the lexicon when the American Psychiatric Association added it to its third edition of the association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980. But PTSD has been around much longer and is growing worse, writes Dr. Anton C. Bizzell in “What You Need to Know About PTSD,” published online in Psychology Today. In a given year, 7 to 8 million U.S. adults have PTSD. Traumatic events, including combat, child abuse, sexual assault, and global pandemics, cause the human brain to go into “fight or flight” response. One-fifth of trauma survivors develop PTSD symptoms—which include intrusive thoughts, avoidance of triggers, alterations in mood, and hyperarousal—because their brain never leaves the reactive mode. Treatment is possible. They include talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and certain medications. A new treatment using MDMA (ecstasy)-assisted therapy is showing great promise. PTSD doesn’t have to be a life sentence. Seek help today.

READ MORE: What You Need to Know About PTSD

Categories BHARC Tags Behavioral Health, CEO Insights, Health, Mental Health

Raise Your Mental Health Awareness

Raise Your Mental Health Awareness

Mental Health Awareness Month each May is a good reminder to learn more about the range of mental illnesses that people experience, and how we can promote and enable well-being for all individuals. This includes becoming familiar with more commonly discussed mental illnesses like anxiety and depression, as well as other mental health conditions such as eating disorders, and postpartum depression. It is also important to be sensitive to the words you use when you talk about and with people who are living with a mental illness. As Dr. Anton C. Bizzell, CEO of the Bizzell US, writes in this Psychology Today article, “We must also consider how we unwittingly use terminology that adds pain to those already working hard to overcome the societal stigma of living with a mental illness.”

With the uptick in mental illnesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, now more than ever, we need to increase awareness, encourage professional diagnosis and treatment, and bring dignity and sensitivity to our discussions about mental illnesses.

READ MORE: Raise Your Mental Health Awareness

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