Gay black men are at heighten risks for both HIV and depression. Examining why, I discovered numerous studies showing how a variety of psychosocial elements were compounding those risks and negatively influencing health outcomes.
The Mental Health Transition Team works with parents and psychiatric hospitals to develop re-entry plans, which could include designating a staff member the child feels comfortable checking in with every day and strategies so students don’t fall behind in school.
Elvia works as a medical interpreter in the Ventura County. Today, she is accompanying the occupational therapist Rachel Pile, who speaks only English. Every Monday, they work on 2-year-old Miguel’s therapy. His mother, Eulalia, only speaks and understands Mixteco.
An estimated 165,000 indigenous Mexican immigrants live and work in the fields of California. Some 80% of them do not speak English or Spanish. This cultural and language barrier makes it difficult to treat mental illnesses in the community.
In the fields in the Ventura County some of the workers speak Mixteco. Many of these indigenous farm workers, like Florino, are living in the country illegally. They typically don’t have access to health care. Most of them face poor living conditions and backbreaking daily labor in the fields.
Many homeless people have severe mental disorders yet remain on the streets for months or even years. The challenge for social service providers and authorities is that these vulnerable and sometimes volatile people often refuse help.
Among Ventura County’s chronically homeless, 37 percent reported a mental illness in the 2015 count. Some officials believe the real percentage is likely higher because the annual survey relies on homeless people self-reporting mental illness, and some may not realize it or don’t want to admit it.
Even though African-Americans are more likely to report major depression, only around 7 percent actually sought treatment, according to a 2011 CDC report. That’s compared to 13.6 percent of the general population. Leila Day of San Francisco's KALW tells the stories behind the numbers.
Reporter Alayna Shulman profiles two women living with mental illness in rural northeast California, where services can be scarce. “You’ve just got to keep going, and you’ve just got to cling to the hope that things are going to get better," one woman says.
The roster of mental health workers in the rural areas is alarmingly small. And with too many people seeking help and few professionals to offer it, experts say the results are predictable: lengthy wait times, fragmented care and — in some cases — patients giving up hope of finding treatment.
