A recent study published in the International Journal of Social Psychiatry sheds light on the barriers minority women in the UK face when seeking mental health treatment. The research highlights the importance of cultural sensitivity and flexibility in therapy services to improve outcomes for this underserved population.
The study, led by Laura-Louise Arundell of University College London, involved interviews with 12 minority women receiving NHS talking therapies. While common mental health issues (such as anxiety and depression) are more prevalent for women than men, and women are more likely to seek treatment, there is a disparity in access and utilization of mental health services for minority women in the UK.
The authors write:
“The study emphasizes the importance of culturally sensitive care and identifies some of the challenges and facilitators associated with the delivery of treatment to minoritized communities. Most importantly, the study outlines improvements that services could make at the treatment delivery, treatment content, and wider organization levels to optimize experiences and outcomes.”
Participants reported facing significant hurdles, including long wait times, limited treatment options, and a lack of cultural understanding from therapists. To address these issues, the authors advocate for a more diverse mental health workforce, reduced wait times, and services tailored to the unique cultural and personal needs of minority women.
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“Therapy” fails white women in the US, too. “Psychiatry has a long history of oppressing women and minorities.” But that is exactly why I’ve been trying to educate minority children to learn to use the creative side of their brains, as well as trying to educate black adults about the truth of psychiatry … much to the dismay of a paternalistic, likely computer hacking, white psychologist’s wishes.
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The headline’s pretty misleading in a seemingly deliberate, malicious, and potentially extremely harmful manner. Reading the full study, It appears that therapy was absolutely fine for minority women and they were very positive on it, not a single woman claimed it ‘failed her’. They were incredibly positive about their therapists, and only reported some annoyance with therapy wait times (btw, everyone has a problem with this, not just minority women), and session counts/durations that they felt weren’t long enough (which means they literally wanted MORE therapy, not less).
The headline, if you weren’t deliberately aiming to scare minority women out of having someone to talk to, should read “Long therapy wait times frustrate minority women in the UK, but they report very positive experiences of therapists and therapy itself”.
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