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Mental and Social Health

Georgia State University

Mental illness

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

A Culture Of Stigma: Black Women And Mental Health, Alexandria Okeke Jan 2013

A Culture Of Stigma: Black Women And Mental Health, Alexandria Okeke

Undergraduate Research Awards

For Black women, the issue of stereotype has been a factor affecting use of medical care and support, especially for mental illness. Black women with mental illness may not be treating their mental issues, but instead masking them. Historical medical experimentation, distrust of medical institutions, the trope of the “strong Black woman,” which operate uniquely to Black communities, stresses the need for culturally inclusive mental healthcare. This research also has implications for mental health initiatives and public policy imperatives in other communities of color. This project explores the history of medical experimentation on African Americans, the resulting distrust of medical …


Children In Foster Care And Excessive Medications, Jill L. Littrell Jan 2012

Children In Foster Care And Excessive Medications, Jill L. Littrell

SW Publications

Children in foster care system are more likely to receive diagnoses of major mental illness and to be medicated with powerful medications such as antipsychotic drugs. Reasons for the increased risk of the actual mental illnesses and for the diagnoses of illness among children in foster care are reviewed. The reliabilities of various diagnoses are considered. The legitimacy of the rationale for early medications to prevent later disability is discussed. The very real hazards of medicating with antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, stimulants, mood stabilizers and antidepressants are reviewed. A discussion of advocacy efforts occurring around the United States on behalf of medicated …