MINORITIES AND MENTAL HEALTH WITH A FOCUS ON RELIGION, GENDER AND PROFESSION

Culture, belief systems, values, race, language, profession, education, gender and sexual identity all contribute to defining / shaping knowledge attitude and behaviour Mental health is affected by all of the above and is also impacted by access to healthcare Healthcare information and access can be more constrained especially for vulnerable minorities whether defined by religion,gender, ethnicity,sexual identity or even professions. This can be a net result of both lack of access and inhibitions to access. Mental health care access is further impeded by lack of equitably distributed mental health infrastructure with qualified mental health professionals and also by the misinformation,taboos, and stigma attached to the same. Racial, ethnic, gender and sexual minorities suffer poor mental health outcomes due to multiple factors, including, educational status, profession and access to jobs, financial independence, socio cultural restrictions surrounding help seeking behaviour for mental health care, discrimination and overall lack of awareness about mental health. Barriers for minorities with mental illnesses include: Different cultural perceptions about mental illness and wellbeing. Racism, gender and ethnic discrimination. Being more vulnerable to stigma. Cultural differences in help seeking behaviours. Customs, language and other communication barriers. Fear and mistrust of treatment. Gender, sexuality and other taboos. Some minority groups might have relatively lower levels of education and income which is a factor in mental healthcare disparity. Often, service providers apply the same cultural lens to minorities as they do to non minorities, which can limit natural understanding and treatment, because of which minority populations are. a.Less likely to have access to available mental health services. b.Less likely to receive mental health care and are significantly under- represented in mental health research. This symposium will outline and address various factors that affect the mental health of various minorities with a focus on religion and socio cultural taboos, gender and profession, the need for cultural competence in mental health and how help/health seeking behaviour can be improved for better mental health outcomes. Dr. Jyoti Shetty MBBS DPM MD Professor and Head Dept. of Psychiatry Bharati Vidyapeeth DTU Medical College Pune Email: jyotivshetty.19@gmail.com Dr. Ruksheda Syeda MBBS DPM Consultant Psychiatrist Trellis Family Centre Mumbai Email : ruksheda@gmail.com Dr. Purnima Nagaraja MBBS DPM, MS Counselling and Psychotherapy, CPTP Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist Dhrithi Wellness Clinic Hyderabad Email: purnima.nagaraja@gmail.com REFERENCES: 1. UPenn collaborate on community integration (blog); 2. Hogg Foundation for Mental Health; 3. Minorities and Mental Health, David Halpern, Social Science and Medicine- Volume 36, Issue 5, March 1993. Community Mental Health and Ethnic Minority, Freida K Chung, Snowden, Clinical Care Update, June 1990; 4. India's Muslims, An Increasingly Marginalised Population, Lindsay Maizland, Council on Foreign Relations; 5. Caste, Religion and Mental Health in India, Gupta, Ashish and Diane Coffey, 2020, Population Research and Policy Review.