Cultural beliefs can significantly influence mental health and affect people’s access to health care. Members of racial and ethnic minorities with mental health challenges are less likely to receive an early diagnosis due to cultural stigma and societal factors. Cultural competence in mental health care is a crucial step towards creating a fairer society.
How Culture Shapes Beliefs About Mental Health
Culture affects many spheres of life beyond its tangible characteristics, such as food, clothing, and music. Cultural values are deeply ingrained in our upbringing and play a significant role in shaping social norms, values, beliefs, and approaches to particular behaviours and ideas. Therefore, cultural norms largely impact our attitudes toward mental health challenges and seeking professional mental health support.
Every culture has its own beliefs, practices, and traditions around the concept of mental health. Cultural and social factors can impact mental health assessment by shaping the way individuals communicate with their care providers. For example, individuals can omit important symptoms due to shame and stigma. Therefore, understanding cultural differences is a vital part of supporting people with mental health challenges.
Stigma Surrounding Mental Health in Different Cultures
Cultural influences and stigma can prevent individuals with mental health challenges from openly discussing their struggles and reaching out for professional help.
Unlike physical symptoms, signs of mental-ill health are usually harder to recognise and often mistaken for casual personality changes. Cultural stigma makes it even harder for the person to describe their symptoms and concerns to their family members and friends. Living in environments that discourage the discussion of mental health concerns can cause self-stigma and feelings of internalised shame or guilt.
Facing mental health challenges without a support system is an isolating experience. In these circumstances, the individual may perceive their mental health issues as a personal failure, leading to low self-esteem and worsening symptoms. Tackling cultural taboos is an essential step towards delivering quality mental health services to individuals and changing cultural norms.
Cultural Factors Affecting Mental Health
Anyone can experience mental health challenges. Nevertheless, members of ethnic and racial minority groups may struggle to receive treatment on time due to discrimination. This is unacceptable, and we need to stand together as a society to ensure everyone gets equal health care.
Without diversity in the mental health care sector, cultural influences might cause confusion and frustration between the individual and the provider. The lack of cultural competence can lead to inaccurate diagnoses and inadequate treatment plans. Everyone deserves equal respect and understanding, and mental health services should be provided on time. Understanding cultural factors and differences is important to providing healthcare services.
Immigration and Mental Health
Immigration is a significantly stressful process that may take a toll on a person’s mental health. Challenges with mental health can be due to factors prior to or after moving to another country, such as racism and discrimination.
Offering more social support opportunities and raising awareness of the importance of connection is important. Furthermore, the public healthcare system should deliver culturally diverse understanding and training.
Racism and Discrimination and Their Impact on Mental Health
Racial discrimination can cause long-term traumatic effects on an individual’s emotional well-being, which can lead to anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some statistics show that depression is the most commonly reported mental health challenge among members of ethnic and racial minority groups.
Hate speech and racially motivated crimes cause chronic stress in children and adults, which has a significantly negative impact on people’s physical and emotional well-being. In addition to that, the education system is disproportionately strict towards members of minority groups, and the youth justice system is more likely to punish children and adolescents from underprivileged cultural backgrounds. We need to stand together to fight racism and discrimination. At Catalyst Care Group, we believe everyone deserves equal rights and equal access to resources and healthcare.
Family Dynamics and Tradition
Family dynamics and traditions have a significant impact on a person’s emotional well-being. There are several family dynamics and traditions that can cause mental and emotional challenges for individuals, such as:
- Gender roles
- Overly strict parents
- Absent parents
- Fear of making mistakes
- Intergenerational trauma
- Alcohol or drug abuse
- Divorce
- Death of a family member
Traumatic childhood experiences in various cultural contexts can impact one’s emotional well-being in the long run. Family dynamics can resurface and affect an individual’s social integration, work performance, and overall behaviour. Therefore, experts should address the intertwined effects of tradition and family dynamics on mental health. When we talk about our challenges openly, we are able to overcome them.
The Importance of Addressing Cultural Factors in Mental Health
Culture influences the quality of support one gets from family, friends, and the local community. Cultural taboos and stigma can prevent people from receiving the mental health care they need. Furthermore, a practitioner’s inability to address cultural beliefs and differences affecting the individuals’ mental well-being can lead to ineffective communication and misdiagnosis.
When reaching out for mental health support, people expect to be approached with an understanding of their specific concerns and experiences. Therefore, experts should take into account all the social and cultural factors involved in the individuals’ challenges. Modern care providers must focus on diversity and provide adequate resources to individuals from various cultural backgrounds.
Catalyst Care Group is Dedicated to Breaking the Cultural Barriers to Mental Health
Catalyst Care Group and our house of brands aim to overcome negative attitudes towards mental health services and deliver quality care to individuals in need of support. Our mental health professionals acknowledge cultural background as a vital factor in each individual’s care plan. We work closely with the individual’s family members and caregivers to tackle the nuance of their mental health challenges.
At Catalyst Care Group, we offer resources in the individual’s first language and address the cultural context of mental and physical health care. Our mental health practitioners make sure members of every cultural group are treated with compassion and respect for their human rights.
If you need a quality home care provider for yourself or a loved one with mental health challenges, Catalyst Care Group is the perfect choice for you. We deliver culturally sensitive home care services for individuals with mental health challenges across the UK.
Contact us now, and we will create a tailored plan catering to your specific needs.
