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Mental health within african americans research papers
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Problem Statement African American (A.A) students in Alameda County are at risk of experiencing the negative health outcome from stress and anxiety. One third of A.A. live in high poverty neighborhoods in California (California Department of Community Services and Development, 2016). “Poverty cycles” create poor education and poor neighborhoods that lead to legal and justice inequalities, which led to stress, chronic health issues, and homelessness (California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, 2013). Within this population, children are most vulnerable. The “cycle of stress” can create a circular continuum of stress from one generation to the next in the A.A. community (Robinson, 2015). Throughout the lifespan, stress can change or
In this paper, I examine the ways in which living in poverty negatively impacts the health of African-Americans, based on the ethnographic family history and study of health care policy recounted by Laurie Kaye Abraham in Mama Might Be Better Off Dead: The Failure of Health Care in Urban America. I will focus first on the barriers that poverty creates to health care on a structural and personal level. I will then discuss how the unique stresses of poverty construct specific behavioral and emotional patterns which reinforce systemic problems to exacerbate poor health outcomes.
All minority groups experience discrimination which leads to increased levels of stress in those individuals. As the level of stress goes up, so does the risk for several health complications including those related to mental health. Wells, Klap, Koike, and Sherbourne (2001) conducted a study examining the disparities in mental health care among black, Hispanic, and white Americans. Of those Hispanics in the study (n=617), 16.6% of them had a probable mental disorder compared to 13.4% of whites (n=7,299). Hispanics also had a higher incidence of substance abuse problems with 9% of those surveyed meeting criteria compared to 7.6% of whites. Hispanics also had the least reported perceived need for treatment with 10.4% for mental health and only 1.3% for substance abuse. A clinician treating Antonio should keep in mind that he has a higher likelihood of having a mental illness or substance use disorder than a white client as well as the fact that if he does meet the criteria for either, that he probably does not believe he needs
Jones, F, Bright, J, Clow, A (2001). Stress: myth, theory and research. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. p. 12.
Though social problems affect a wide variety of people from all races, classes, and cultures; minorities, specifically African Americans, encounter social problems on a multi-dimensional basis. Poverty, employment rates, discrimination, and other social problems strike African Americans in such a way that it is nearly impossible to separate them; each individual has different background, socially and physically, that would determine in which order his or her social problems need to be solved. Impoverished blacks in the inner city may have difficulty finding or keeping jobs, while others may have jobs, but face troubles with work discrimination that prevent them from moving upward .Underemployment, workplace inequalities, and unbalanced medical attention are three closely related social problems that, if ameliorated together, could increase upward mobility, decrease poverty levels, and tighten the lifespan gaps for not only blacks, but also other minority groups. The purpose of this paper is to show what effects these three problems have for blacks.
Williams, D. R., & Jackson, P. (2014, April 1). Health Affairs. Social Sources Of Racial Disparities In Health. Retrieved April 29, 2014, from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/24/2/325.short
...n Os , J., & Myin-Germeys, I. (2011). Childhood trauma and increased stress. ACTA PSYCHIATRICA, 28–35.
Samaan, R. A. (2000). The Influences of Race, Ethnicity, and Poverty on the Mental Health of Children. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 100-110.
Thoits highlights how inequality results in differences of health outcomes among different groups of people. For example, African Americans and Hispanics generally have higher morbidity than whites. However, Thoits also focuses on the relationship between mental health and stress. Adolescents – who tend to be more stressed than older folks – more often suffer the onset of psychiatric disorders, a factor that becomes curbed with increased age (543). Thus, this shows how stress causes adverse mental health. In addition, Thoits also ties social status to stress levels in a way that is similar to the findings detailed in Stress: Portrait of a Killer. Highlighting previous studies, Thoits notes how there are cumulative stressors that particularly affect females, young adults, and members of racial-ethnic minorities (544). These “cumulative stressors closely paralleled inequalities in rate of physical and/or mental health problems by social status” (544). Once again, this shows how people who are disenfranchised or simply fall lower on social hierarchies are also those who experience more stress and, consequently, worse health outcomes. Finally, Thoits also argues that “stress can proliferate across generations” (545). In other words, the negative effects on health due to stress may be intergenerational.
Stress can come from any event or thought that makes us feel frustrated, angry, or nervous. All of us experience stress and usually cope with it well. Stress is an omnipresent part of life and is a reaction to external stimuli that disturb our physical or mental equilibrium. It is a system in our body that helps us to deal with real danger and / or perform at our best. Any event or happening that induces stress is called stressor.
“Because such neighborhoods display much higher concentrations of poverty and greater rates of disorder and violence, and because African-American college students are disproportionately connected to people living in such neighborhoods, they are at much greater risk of experiencing stress indirectly through their social networks” (Charles, Dinwiddie, & Massey (2004). Racial segregation undermines academic performance in several ways: by distracting students psychological being from their studies; by undermining their physical and emotional well-being; and by necessitating competing investments of time, money, and energy to attend to family issues. Minority students become ensnared in a web of relationships that undermine their academic performance on campus
Rosa Thomas wrote an article on Stress and Children Development. In Rosa’s article, she focused on how children early development determined how the child’s neurological and biological system for their well-being or not. Rosa wrote this type of stress was regularly found among particular people or in a certain area, such as, poverty and abusive homes that resulted in the children’s neurobiology being altered in their lives, school, and social competence.
African American women report more frequent encounters with everyday unfair treatment than Caucasian women. African American women who live in the city report a greater number of acute life events as stressors divorce, marriage, job loss, etc. than Caucasian women. It’s no surprise that socioeconomic status, everyday experiences and acute life events each make a significant contribution to differences in women’s health status. Stresses in African American women have been known to be a major factor when it comes to health and emotional wellbeing of black women’s Townsend etal. (2007). Stress in African American women can be brought on by several factors such as having the role as a mother, being a caretaker, and just being head of the household holding down a job so you handle the bills. Studies have showed that many black women have increased health issues. Many black women encounter more negative symptoms when it comes to stress such as stomach aches, dizziness, sleep disturbances, eating issues, and depression, all of these symptoms can lead a women into major health issues (2007). A study was performed to measure stress, depression, and different coping mechanisms to help them handle high levels of stress that may come with being and African American women (2007). They found that stress and mental health in the current sample provides a better reasoning for this study. The researcher also gathered information that stress could be a strategy for several health issues that may influence African American women population. In conducting their study depression was looked at to be compared to emotion focused and different problem coping skills. The researcher gathered from the overall study that teaching black women more emotion focused and problem coping strategies it could possible help lessen
Stress is something that everyone has to deal with in life, whether it is good or bad stress. Stress management techniques are a great way to deal with stress. Some of the stress management techniques that I learned from this course are prioritization, scheduling, and execution. Using these techniques has effectively helped me deal with my own stress. When it comes to dealing with stress I still have many strengths and weaknesses that I will explain. Some stressors I have in my life that I will discuss are psychointrapersonal, social, life events, and daily hassles. Next, I will give my opinion on my post-course survey, and compare and contrast it to my pre-course survey scores. Finally, I will explain my last goals for this stress management course.
Have you ever seen what stress can do to a kid? It can turn the nicest kid into an aggressive and hateful person. As told stress has a huge effect on people these days, comes in many forms and levels. The very first form of stress is, “Acute stress is the most common form of stress. It comes from demands and pressures of the recent past and anticipated demands and pressures of the near future.”() The second type of stress is episodic stress which is frequent acute stress and is caused (). Then there finally is chronic stress that can wreck the person physically and mentally (). It is caused by people who were in a miserable situation and can’t find a way out of it. All these stresses can take their tolls on people but children in general take it the worst, because they are not mentally equipped to handle it yet. Have you ever wonder why kids can seem so stressed on days. Well it’s because,” the pressure to excel, couple with the turmoil of puberty and exposure to negative influences via internet and their peers is surely a potent recipe for a mental meltdown”(ling) and overall you have to wonder even more, what effect does this have on kids? There are many long term and short term effects that can be give in to kids under stress.
Studies about early childhood development indicate that the brain develops in response to experiences with caregivers, family and the community, and that its development is directly linked to the quality and quantity of those experiences. Meeting a child’s needs during these early stages creates emotional stability and security that is needed for healthy brain development. Repeated exposure to stressful events can affect the brain’s stress response, making it more reactive and less adaptive. With time a child may react as if danger is always present in their environment regardless of what the presenting situation actually