SEPTEMBER 1997A Newsletter from the Office of Minority Health

Closing the Gap


Office of Minority Health Public Health Service U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

In This Issue:

Cultural Considerations in Treating Asians
Coping with Racial Stress
Minority Health Perspective/Guest Editorials
Depression Awareness
Dealing with Violent Death
Cultural Competency
Mental Health and Seniors
Research Centers
Help-Seeking Behavior
National Mental Health Association
Anxiety Campaign
Resources
Message from the Director

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Mental Health and Minorities

Cultural Considerations in Treating Asians

Study after study has shown that Asians underutilize mental health services much more than other populations, according to Stanley Sue, PhD, director of the National Research Center on Asian American Mental Health in Davis, California.

It’s a trend that Dr. Sue discovered in the seventies when he was a graduate student intern at the University of California, Los Angeles Psychiatry Clinic. The clinic assessed information on the number of Asian student clients, as well as therapists’ impressions of those clients.

“Not only did we find that Asians underutilized services,” Dr. Sue said. “We also found that the Asian students exhibited more severe mental disturbances than the non-Asian students.”

The same patterns can be seen today. The National Research Center evaluated records of thousands of clients of the Los Angeles County mental health system for a six-year period. “What we found,” said Dr. Sue, “was that Asians were underrepresented in the outpatient system, and they were more likely than African Americans, Whites, and Hispanics to have psychotic disorders.”

Contrary to popular belief, the fact that a certain population is not using mental health services does not indicate that the population is free of mental health problems, Dr. Sue added.

A key question then is why? Why aren’t Asians seeking and receiving treatment from state services if their mental health needs are so significant? Several factors play into why people use or don’t use mental health services, including the ease of accessing services and willingness to seek help. According to experts, culture is at the heart of such factors.

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Blake Crawford, Executive Editor
Michelle Meadows, Managing Editor
Jean Oxendine, Writer
Becky Hardaway, Production Coordinator


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Last Modified: September 11, 1997
The Office of Minority Health Resource Center
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