Running head: PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDER PAPER

Psychological disorder paper

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Psychological disorder paper

Anxiety disorders are some of the major illnesses that affect people in the United States.

Various factors can contribute to depression, and for some people, numerous factors put them to

depression while others experience depression caused by a single factor. Different organizations

offer mental healthcare at the local level. Such organizations work with diverse cultures to help

them curb depression, as discussed below.

Organization and different cultures it serves

Mental Health America (MHA) is one of the main community based and non-profit

organizations that address the needs of people suffering from mental illnesses, thus promoting

overall mental wellbeing across America. Mental Health America (2019) states that its

commitment to foster mental wellbeing as a vital part of overall health, including prevention

services, early identification, and intervention for the people at risk gives them the drive to serve

the community.

MHA offers integrated services and supports the people suffering from various mental

illnesses, setting full recovery as their main goal. The organization offers mental health services

to various minority communities in the US, which include the African Americans and the

Latino/Hispanic communities. Mental Health America (2019) states that the organization strives

to ensure that the language materials that they use to offer mental services to the Hispanic/Latino

communities reflect all the sub-groups that make up the community. Latinos population is highly
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concentrated in a few States, and 25% of them live in poverty.

Symptoms of clinical depression

The normal symptoms of clinical depression include the patient having trouble

concentrating on anything. They also have difficulty in recalling details of an event leading to

poor decision-making. People who suffer from clinical depression feel fatigued, experience

feelings of guilt thinking they could have done better, they feel insignificant and helpless, cynical

and miserable (Jokela, Virtanen, Batty & Kivimaki, 2016). Clinical depression patients either

suffer from insomnia, hypersomnia, or they wake up very early in the morning. They are easily

irritable, restless, and lack of interest in pleasurable things, especially sex. Some clinical

depression patients overeat, while others experience appetite loss. They feel pains of the body,

cramps, and persistent headaches. They are persistently sad and more often feel empty, have

suicidal thoughts, and sometimes attempt committing suicide.

Interpretation of symptoms across different cultures

Watson and Hunter (2015) examined the relationship between self-reported physical and

mental health status with the perception of racial discernment and also with the complexion of

African Americans and realized that self-perceived racial discrimination was largely linked with

worse physical and mental health that included clinical depression and it was more prevalent in

women than men. African American men were also likely to have a lower income, get married,

or be educated compared to women who got married and had higher income, thus reducing their

levels of depression. African Americans, therefore, believe that a person’s socio-economic status
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determines his or her levels of depression and the poorer they are; the less likely they are to seek

mental health care.

According to Camacho, Tarraf, Jimenez, Gallo, Gonzalez, Kaplan, Hernandez (2018),

some Hispanics have a negative attitude towards mental health, and therefore, they do not seek

mental healthcare. Hispanics Latinos, on the other hand, have a positive attitude towards mental

health, and that explains the high number of them seeking mental care. MHA (2019) argues that

the cause of treatment barriers to health is not attitudes but other factors that include language

and socio-economic factors like in the case of African Americans.

Impact of culture affects interpretations of symptoms and recommendations of services for

that organization

Different cultures perceive and experience depression differently hence affecting the

strategies of service delivery in diverse cultures. Different cultures also do not seek help the

same way. Moreover, Chang, Jetten, Cruwys, & Haslam (2017) asserts that the degree to which

symptoms are pathology compared to unpleasant but normative characteristics might also differ.

Assessment can also be challenging following the different cultural perceptions of depression.

Pharmaceutically, prescriptions, and doses of medications used for depression should not

be changed based on various reasons that include ethnicity and race. Based on different

perceptions and understandings, the organization has tailor-made its services to fit the needs of

different cultures that they serve. For example, for the Latino group, MHA ensures that they

translate their language materials to adapt and replicate various subgroups that make up the

Latino/Hispanics community. The translation ensures that these communities fully understand

the need for mental healthcare for the depressed making them embrace treatment. The
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organization has careening tools available for depression written in Spanish to cater to the

Hispanics. African Americans are a cohesive group and therefore, including a patient's support

group in the recovery process works effectively.

Conclusion

Mental Health America offers mental health services to patients in various parts of the

USA. Some of the minority cultural groups that the organization serves include the

Latino/Hispanics and the African American. Both groups have a negative attitude about mental

health. Therefore, they rarely seek treatment. Mental Health America uses support groups to

enhance recovery for African Americans, and on the other hand, MHA uses Spanish language

materials for Latino Hispanics.

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References

Camacho,A.,Tarraf, W., Jimenez, D.E., Gallo, L. C., Gonzalez, P., Kaplan, R. C.,… &

Hernandez, R. (2018). Anxious depression and neurocognition among middle-aged and

older Hispanic/Latino adults. Hispanic community health study/study of Latinos

(HCHS/SOL) results. The American Journal of Geratric Psychiatry 26, no. 2(2018): 238-

249

Chang, M. X. L., Jetten, J., Cruwys, T., & Haslam, C. (2017). Cultural identity and the

expression of depression: A social identity perspective. Journal of Community and

applies Social Psychology,27 (1), 16-34

Jokela, M., Virtanen, M., Batty, G.D., & Kivimaki, M. (2016). Inflammation and specific

symptoms of depression. JAMA Psychiatry, 73(1), 87-88

Mental Health America. (2019). Latino/Hispanic Communities and Mental Health. Retrieved

from May 19, 2019. www.mentlhealtamerica.net/issues/latinohispanic-communities-and-

mental-health
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Mental Health America. (2019). Programs. Retrieved from. May 19, 2019.

http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/programs

Watson, N., & Hunter, C.D. (2015). Anxiety and depression among African American women:

The costs of strength and negative attitude towards psychological help-seeking. Cultural

Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 21, no 4(2015): 604