ONDCP Blog

National Minority Mental Health Month

ONDCP is proud to join partners in government to acknowledge July as National Minority Mental Health Month. Mental health is an important component of prevention, treatment and recovery from substance dependence, especially in minority communities. We must all work together to ensure access to mental health support services across the Nation. In honor of National Minority Mental Health Month, we’re pleased to share the Congressional Tri-Caucus’s statement on the meaning of this month. Please visit the statement here, or read it in full below.

(Washington, DC) Today, Rep. Grace F. Napolitano, Congressional Mental Health Caucus Co-Chair, joined by the chairs of the Congressional Tri-Caucus, recognized July as National Minority Mental Health Month, to enhance public awareness about mental illness in diverse communities.

“Mental health has long been ignored, and we must continue to de-stigmatize the issue and increase funding, elevating it as any other illness or conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, and other physical illnesses,” Napolitano said. “Mental health does not discriminate: it affects all of us regardless of race, class, or gender. Mental wellness is just as important as physical wellness. We must all be part of the solution and work to invest in mental health services for those who need help.”

Rep. Charles Gonzalez, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman:“While mental illness does not discriminate, it disproportionately affects our minority communities. This month must be seen as an opportunity to not only increase awareness for mental illness, but also to promote long-term solutions that address the uniqueness of America’s minority communities.”

 Rep. Judy Chu, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chairwoman: “Mental health issues affect every community within our nation, but the effects of these disorders are especially challenging for minority communities where resource limitations and cultural stigmas make it much harder to address these problems. In the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, young AAPI women have the highest rates of depression and suicide ideation of any racial group, and nearly 40 percent of Southeast Asian refugees suffer from acute levels of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. These problems are compounded by cultural and linguistic barriers to accessing mental health services, limited research on the unique mental health needs and challenges of the AAPI community, and the fact that AAPIs have the lowest rate of mental health care use among all populations.  National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month is a time to raise awareness of these critical issues, address systematic barriers to quality care, and ensure that our communities understand that saving lives is more important than saving face.”

Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman:“While the trend is getting better, far too little attention is paid to mental health and the racial and ethnic disparities that exist not only in mental health care, but in mental health status. For example, African Americans are 20% more likely than Whites to report psychological distress, yet are more than two times less likely than Whites to receive antidepressants, and a report from the Surgeon General found that the suicide rate among African Americans, aged 10 to 14 years, increased 233% from 1980 to 1995. Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act, we -- as a nation -- have never had a better opportunity to work to eliminate racial and ethnic mental health disparities, destigmatize mental health illnesses, improve our mental health screenings and diagnoses, expand access to needed mental health care services and treatments, and ensure that the mental health and wellness of every citizen in this nation is protected, preserved and improved.”  

To honor a life-long advocate for mental health, Congress designated July as Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month in 2008. Before her untimely death in 2006, Campbell was an author and co-founder of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Urban Los Angeles. The goal of National Minority Mental Health Month is to increase awareness of mental illness, prevention, treatment, and research in diverse communities.

According to the Office of Minority Health:

• The death rate from suicide for African American men was almost six times that for African American women, in 2008.
• African Americans are 20% more likely to report having serious psychological distress than Non-Hispanic Whites.
• Older Asian American women have the highest suicide rate of all women over age 65 in the United States.
• Suicide attempts for Hispanic girls, grades 9-12, were 70% higher than for White girls in the same age group, in 2011.
• While the overall death rate from suicide for American Indian/Alaska Natives is comparable to the White population, adolescent American Indian/Alaska Natives have death rates at twice the rate for Whites in the same age groups.
• National Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander mental health data is limited at this time. Data will be published as it is released in reports published by the CDC.

National Mental Health Crisis Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK

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A Collaborative Approach to Reduce Drug Use and Prevent HIV Transmission

Today, Director Kerlikowske participated in a preconference hosted by the International AIDS Society to help kick off the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington D.C. Director Kerlikowske underscored the Obama Administration’s commitment to preventing drug use and its consequences, particularly the transmission of HIV. Injection drug use is a leading cause of HIV in the United States.

Director Kerlikowske made clear that the Administration and ONDCP recognize and acknowledge the connection between drug use and the spread of HIV/AIDS. The National Drug Control Strategy, the federal government’s primary blueprint for drug policy in the United States, includes an action item from the Administration to help reduce drug use and the attendant spread of HIV. The Strategy explores all avenues for curbing the drug problem in America, including areas not emphasized in past drug policies: treatment, prevention, and recovery.

The Administration’s policy recognizes drug addiction not as a moral failing but as a chronic disease of the brain, a disease that can be treated and managed. The policy encourages and applauds those who have overcome the disease of addiction, and it supports former users who are now living healthy, productive lives in recovery.

In recent years ONDCP has worked collaboratively with the Office of National AIDS Policy and the Department of Health and Human Services to develop the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which calls for the coupling of HIV screening with traditional substance abuse treatment programs. The Nation’s first-ever comprehensive HIV/AIDS roadmap, the Strategy urges more medical facilities to employ rapid HIV screenings and, thus, give more people the opportunity to be tested in a variety of settings.

Working together with our partners in and out of government, we are committed to “turning the tide together” while building a healthier, safer America. For more information on this year’s International AIDS Conference, please visit the event page on AIDS.gov.

Working to Make Our Roadways Safer

Thermometers across the country have made it clear that summer is upon us. In conjunction with summer holidays, we often see campaigns designed to heighten our awareness of the dangers of alcohol-impaired drivers. However, there is an equally dangerous driver: the drugged driver. These drivers crash, and those crashes may not only result in injuries, but deaths.

According to a survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, one in eight nighttime weekend drivers test positive for illegal drugs.  More alarming – one in three drivers with known test results who were killed in accidents tested positive for an illegal drug.  Young people are also at risk.  According to another study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, one in eight high school seniors admit to smoking marijuana before driving.

The research is clear – driving high slows reaction time, impacts judgment, and all too often leads to deadly consequences.  So when people drive high, they don’t just pose a threat to themselves, but to others with whom they share the road.

Our agencies are committed to reducing drugged driving. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is working with states to help them pass zero tolerance laws when it comes to drugged driving.  Already, 17 states have established per se laws, which means that any presence of an illegally used drug is a violation of the law.  We are also working with law enforcement agencies to increase the number of law enforcement officers who are trained to detect the signs of drugged driving and are properly trained to identify impaired drivers.

But our efforts don’t end there.  Last month, the National Transportation Safety Board hosted its first-ever forum examining the substance-impaired driving problem. Over the next several months, NTSB will be reviewing the information obtained during the forum and conducting additional research to identify the best recommendations for preventing future drug-related highway crashes, injuries, and deaths.

Americans deserve fewer risks when taking to the roads and highways; parents should not have to fear that their children will become another teenage drugged driving statistic. We at the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the National Transportation Safety Board are steadfast in our mission to reduce this threat, and we hope that Americans will join us in raising public awareness regarding this challenge.

Watch Live: 2012 UN World Drug Report

Tomorrow in New York, the United Nations General Assembly will hold a thematic debate on drugs and crime as a threat todevelopment worldwide.

At 10 a.m. EST tomorrow, Yury Fedotov, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, will launch the 2012 World Drug Report.

The webcast of the event will be streamed on Tuesday 26 June from 10 am - 1pm (first session) and from 3pm - 6pm (second session) EST (New York time) through http://webtv.un.org/. You can join the conversation on Twitter using #WDR2012--be sure to follow @ONDCP and @UNODC for highlights from tomorrow's sessions and from the report.