Daniel Gornik

October 25th, 2021

Gender, Race-Ethnicity, and Psychosocial Barriers to Mental Health Care

The article aims to address the different correlations between unmet mental health care
and certain variables of society. Firstly, it investigates what are the characteristics of adults who
report unmet need for mental health care. In addition, factors such as: race-ethnicity, gender
differentiality around stigma, mistrust/fear of the healthcare system, and negative attitudes
towards treatment are also considered. Evaluating these factors allows for an understanding of
what needs to be improved upon in our society today as many people's needs are neglected.

Using data from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the authors
surprisingly derived that both gender and race-ethnicity are not major factors of whether
someone reports negative attitudes for care. One pattern that is noted is people of color being
much less likely to act or confront these mental health problems then white people. A similar
pattern can be seen between men and women where men are less likely to acknowledge and
exhibit care about their mental health. The surveys and census surprisingly retort these
observations in race-ethnicity. In the authors discussion they conclude that “Psychosocial
barriers have been proposed as important factors affecting mental health service use by racial and
ethnic minority or immigrant communities and males. For these reasons, significant positive
associations between white male status and stigma avoidance and mistrust/fear of the system
were contrary to our expectations” (Bergstresser and Ojeda 2008, pg.329). That being said, their
speculation of the disparity still stands, and they see the lack of supportive results as a cause of a
weak sample size.

The effect of stigmas is a central cause to unmet need as they are prominent in both black
and Hispanic culture. The negative stigma built over time has discouraged minorities from
attaining and attempting to get the care they need. This is also in part due to socioeconomic
conditions. The relationship between social status and help-seeking is aligned with both the
gender and race discrepancies found in the surveys recorded in the charts. While these refute
expectations, the authors understand that this may again be a due to their examined population as
“A survey written within the context of the general population of the United States may it- self
be culture-bound; therefore, survey items addressing social stigma, mistrust, or attitudes towards
care may be phrased in an idiom that speaks directly to the cultural experience of certain
segments of society. Population subgroups, particularly racial-ethnic minorities, immigrants, or
men may experience or report a different manifestation of stigma or other psychosocial barriers
to mental health care” (Bergstresser and Ojeda 2008, pg.331).

Two other strongly influential factors highlighted by the research are negative attitudes
towards treatment and mistrust and fear of the system. These two go hand in hand as one leads to
the other. As the reasoning behind these skepticisms is rooted in historical events, it is of no
surprise to the authors that again, minorities seem to be the most impacted and in turn are
presented to show less attention to treatment and advice given by medical professionals on the
topic of mental health. However, as the data recorded states otherwise seeing as both education
and income statistics were weak and varied, this was another example where the small and not
large enough test size weakened the credibility. Later it states that “The surprising finding that
non-Latino white males are significantly more likely to report stigma than other groups suggests
that the role of stigma avoidance, negative attitudes towards care, and mistrust or fear of the
system have not yet been adequately understood in relation to real-world mental health care
problems” (Bergstresser and Ojeda 2008, pg.330). Regardless, the finding is beneficial as it
concludes that more research for accurate findings must be done.

The study contributes to our knowledge of the world and sociology by helping us
understand the barriers that stand between people and seeking mental health care. Specifically,
the research narrows down the people who are affected and what factors and characteristics
cause this. By educating the audience on these impacts, it raises awareness and allows for people
to understand the people around them every day more thoroughly. The understanding that people
around you are affected by mental illness and aren’t always open to finding support and needed
assistance based off psychosocial aspects is crucial to understanding society. That being said, the
data, while contradicting typical claims, allows for the emphasize on the fact that anyone can be
affected by factors such as stigma and systematic mistrust. Psychosocial barriers are universal
and regardless of stereotypes should never be assumed in society. While context of
socioeconomic factors should be considered, the article highlights this through their surprising
findings in the data concluding that gender and race may not always be the defining factor.

The authors experiment lacked effective results, which they understood, due to a lack of
variety and population size in the census groups. With that in mind, the authors could have
benefited from considering location as well. While they did mention it, they didn’t make an
effort to include this variety in their data set. Furthermore, a consideration of types of mental
health would also be useful. Seeing as the definition of mental illness can be inconsistent among
a large group of people, many people may have discounted or neglected certain aspects of their
lives allowing for a possible weakness in the data collected. Other than this, I think that the
awareness and specifics in their research was very good and didn’t find the need for many other
criticisms on the matter. Any other weaknesses they accounted for and explained as an outlier in
their findings.

Based off the data that was provided, and the assessment made by the authors, what
would one expect from a larger test population size that possibly includes a more global group? I
think that while the numbers might not shift dramatically, there would be a clear correlation
between race-ethnicity and gender factors in the unmet needs survey. The numbers would
support the assumption that negative stigma towards acceptance of care would be seen primarily
in people pf color and men. Another strong thing to consider after reading this article is what can
be done with this data to positively impact the future of mental health awareness? Overall, I
think a great start is awareness and a de-stigmatization. This can be accomplished with more
accurate findings and connecting with a wider audience. Along with this I am sure there are
many other active responses to help create this change by breaking down psychosocial barriers.

The authors successfully give an answer to the question behind the correlation of gender,
race-ethnicity, and psychosocial barriers to mental health care. While their results did not show
what they had expected, it did shine a light onto the inconsistencies and out of the box
possibilities of people that psychosocial barriers affect. By taking into consideration who is
affected by a variety of factors, it is clear that the context behind societies unmet need for mental
health care is an ongoing problem.