Executive Summary Contents
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Personal Health Recommendation: Seek Help
The efficacy of treatment is well documented, according
to the main finding of Mental Health: A Report of
the Surgeon General. There is evidence, described in
this Supplement, that racial and ethnic minorities benefit
from mental health treatment. And it is abundantly
clear that good treatment is preferable to no treatment at
all. Untreated mental disorders can have dire consequences
- distress, disability, and, in some cases, suicide.
Therefore, this Supplement underscores the personal
health recommendation of the earlier report: Every
person, regardless of race or ethnicity, should seek help
if they have a mental health problem or symptoms of a
mental disorder.
Individuals are encouraged to seek help from any
source in which they have confidence. If they do not
improve with the help received from the first source,
they are encouraged to keep trying. At present, members
of minority groups may experience limited availability
of, and access to, culturally sensitive treatments. With
time, access to these services should improve as a result
of awareness of this problem and the courses of action
identified in this Supplement. In the meantime, anyone
who needs help must hear a simple, yet resounding,
message of hope: Treatment works and recovery is possible.
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