Paranoia Disorder and the African-American Community

African Americans And Mental Health

As we delve deeper into the experiences of African Americans and mental health, the stance on mental health incorporates many aspects of the African American experience. Historically, mental health and working with mental health among the African American community have stayed among informal support systems and have remained the duty of the family and the church. The importance of the Black church has been documented in 4 areas of community medicine: primary care delivery, community mental health, health promotion and disease prevention, and health policy (Levin, 1984).

Family is an essential component of the African American experience, and for African Americans, family is at the core of what it means to be African American. Given the tight bond among the community, family beliefs and cultural norms indicate that the family is there to assist with many issues, including mental health. The protective nature of the African American community may come from the challenge of being Black in America. To seek mental health treatment would allow for an added label or stigma. For this reason, African Americans rely on their family to cope with mental health issues because the mental illness label is shameful, and knowledge of the diagnosis outside of the family could cause adverse reactions and a double stigma, which could lead to further discrimination (Newhill & Harris, 2007).