Mental Health: A Report by the Surgeon General

Provided by David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D.
Surgeon General of the United States of America

Chapter 2

Overview of Cultural Diversity and Mental Health Services

Help-Seeking Behavior

Among adults, the evidence is considerable that persons from minority backgrounds are less likely than are whites to seek outpatient treatment in the specialty mental health sector (Sussman et al., 1987; Gallo et al., 1995; Leong & Lau, 1998; Snowden, 1998; Vega et al., 1998a, 1998b; Zhang et al., 1998). This is not the case for emergency department care, from which African Americans are more likely than whites to seek care for mental health problems, as noted above. Language, like economic and accessibility differences, can play an important role in why people from other cultures do not seek treatment (Hunt, 1984; Comas-Diaz, 1989; Cook & Timberlake, 1989; Taylor, 1989).

Next

Back to the Mental Health: The Surgeon General's Report Table of Contents

Back to Mental Health Articles