$19M in federal funds for mental wellness in black communities desperately needed, experts say

Those on the front lines helping people in the black community who are dealing with mental health issues hope new federal funding goes to not only improving access to treatment, but also addressing the stigma that stops people from looking for help in the first place.

Tuesday's federal budget included $19 million over five years to develop research in support of more culturally focused mental health programs inthe blackcommunity and moresupportfor youth at risk.

Samantha Chhom-Yousuf,a program director at LOFT Community Services, an agency thathelps people withmental health challenges, dementia and substance abuse problems, has worked in the Jane-Finch community for a decade.

She sees the barriers to accessing mental health supports as two-fold.

"There isn't a lot of resources for them in that community and we also find that there's a stigma," said Chhom-Yousuf, who was part of an assessment of mental health needs in the community in 2013.

"There's not enough practitioners psychologists, psychiatrics, you name it. There's not a lot of health-care professionals that can offer that support to them," she says, adding marginalized communities find it harder to access such resources.

"Theymay have to go downtown to [the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health(CAM-H)]or some facility outside the community for service. Accessibility is challenging."

But also, she says, manyin the community misunderstandwhat mental illnessis, and that discourages some from seeking help.

"There's a lot of stigma associated with mental health in the community. It may be see as a sign of weakness or you weren't brought up properly," says Chhom-Yousuf. "When your community is not supportive that can be really traumatic. So when someone suffers from depression, they'll be like, 'Get over it.'"

She says poverty andviolence are also linked to mental illness, along with poor nutrition and a lack of stable housing. Socio-economic indicators such as unemployment,low family income and various forms of discrimination, including
racism, have been identified asrisk factors for poormental health.

'Put you money where your mouth is'

Dr. Kwame McKenzie,a psychiatrist and director of health equity at CAMH,says federal funding for preventative mental health programs is sorely needed.

"You've got to put your money where your mouth is. Mental health is the corner stone of social and economic development," McKenzie told CBC Toronto.

"Positive mental health and well-being and resilience and being able to deal with stress. We don't do and think through how you develop positive mental health in black communities."

McKenzie says it's even more stark for black youth.

"There's very little work going on to build psychologically strong and resilient youth and not surprisingly with socio-economic problems and racism and poorer schools, poorer housing and with poorer job opportunities, we have people under significant stress," he said.

And McKenzie says when a mental illness is diagnosed, the wait times for people in black communities to get treatment aredouble the provincial average 16 months compared with eight.

Delays in treatment affect outcomes, he says, andtreatments tend not to take culture and race into account. He says while culturally adapted treatments have been developed, they haven't been deployed.

"Just about everything needs improving," says McKenzie. "There are many straightforward things out there that we just don't do."