Racial Disparities Found in Pinpointing Mental Illness

[MountainLaurel]

The final segment of a fascinating series on the role of culture in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. Considering some of the discussions on DU about Tom Cruise's comments on psychiatry, I thought someone might find this interesting.



John Zeber recently examined one of the nation's largest databases of psychiatric cases to evaluate how doctors diagnose schizophrenia, a disorder that often portends years of powerful brain-altering drugs, social ostracism and forced hospitalizations.

Although schizophrenia has been shown to affect all ethnic groups at the same rate, the scientist found that blacks in the United States were more than four times as likely to be diagnosed with the disorder as whites. Hispanics were more than three times as likely to be diagnosed as whites.

Zeber, who studies quality, cost and access issues for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, found that differences in wealth, drug addiction and other variables could not explain the disparity in diagnoses: "The only factor that was truly important was race."

snip

The data confirm the fears of experts who have warned for years that minorities are more likely to be misdiagnosed as having serious psychiatric problems. "Bias is a very real issue," said Francis Lu, a psychiatrist at the University of California at San Francisco. "We don't talk about it -- it's upsetting. We see ourselves as unbiased and rational and scientific."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062701496.html

[undergroundpanther]

1. I got a story

Eugenics is practiced in residential programs.

I am white, I wanted my tubes tied I was 27. I had to fight my therapist at the time to do it.My insurance would cover it yet I had to fool around with his objections.

Meanwhile I had a roomate she was cool,she was black too. She was FORCED to have a NORPLANT put in her arm.When I saw her one day she said she got Norplant..I asked her why? She said she didn't know why,I asked her if she asked to have it? She said NO,She had it put in because staff told her if she didn't take the Norplant she would have been kicked out of the program and left on the street.


The threat of homelessness was a tool to cocerce people in the program to accept all sorts of abuse.Hell yes there is racial bullshit in the psych system. I got choked by a night staff for trying to expose the crap going on there to law authorities because it risked everyones job..

[demigoddess]

2. another story

I was depressed after the death of a child, and the dr. wanted me hospitalized for a couple of days to run tests. Well, the big test he wanted to run was a pelvic exam and a pap smear. I fended him off with the answer that I had just had one. But the only thing the old guy ever wanted to talk about was sex. I think he used his practice to find victims for abuse. Hope the idiot is dead.

[HuckleB]

3. Thank you for posting this.

It's necessary and important information.

Salud.

[MountainLaurel]

4. You're welcome

I keep thinking about a biracial friend and the shit she's had to deal with from therapists, and how they just didn't get it.