Experts say there are mental health barriers for black youth

A conference for family physicians, nurse practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and other health care professionals was held Saturday in Toronto to address these issues and help them provide more culturally respectful care. It was organized by the Black Doctors Association of Ontario.

“Young black people experience the mental health system very differently than other races,” said Dr. Mojola Omole, president of the association and a general surgeon in Toronto.

“Part of it is anti-Black racism and implicit bias,” said Omole, who is also working with the Canadian Medical Association Journal to address these issues in health care.

Many young black people have experienced trauma, sometimes related to racism or discrimination, that can affect their mental health and the way they express themselves, she said.

“What may look like apathy is a sign of real problems,” Ms Omole said.

When young black people speak loudly, it is often mistakenly perceived as aggression, said Modjala Omole, noting that she has seen this firsthand at the hospital where she works.

Dr. Amy Gajaria, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, agrees that black youth are often misunderstood and misdiagnosed.

“There are a lot of stereotypes among health care workers and, you know, we may have internalized unconscious biases against Black children and families,” said Gajaria, who is not Black herself.

“Teens who are depressed and anxious can be very irritable,” she continued.

Among non-black youth, mental health professionals are more likely to diagnose anxiety, depression or trauma, Ms. Gajaria said.

The reality would be very different for young black men.

“[Les cliniciens] they see the anger, they see the irritability and they leave it at that. And so their diagnosis is ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, which really does kids a disservice.”

Ms Gajaria is also concerned about the plight of young black people who do not receive any mental health care, as there are “a million obstacles to overcome in [centre de soins psychiatriques]”.

Young black people wait much longer than other patients to access mental health care, said Tiyonda Fante-Coleman, a researcher with the Pathways to Care project.

Ms Fante-Coleman, speaking at the conference on Saturday, pointed to a 2015 Canadian study that found that black children and youth of Caribbean descent waited an average of 16 months to receive mental health care, compared with seven months for white patients.

There are many reasons for this, Fante-Coleman said, including that young black people may face greater financial barriers or staffing shortages in their area.

There is a great need in Canada for more data on race to improve care for Black youth, Fante-Coleman said.

“We have very little data on the incidence and prevalence of mental illness. [par exemple la dépression, l’anxiété et la schizophrénie] among the country’s population.”