Black Politics Now
  • Home
  • Business
  • Civil Rights
  • Criminal Justice
  • Education
  • Elections
  • Health
  • Policy
  • Reparations
  • Voter Rights
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Register
Black Politics Now
  • Home
  • Business
  • Civil Rights
  • Criminal Justice
  • Education
  • Elections
  • Health
  • Policy
  • Reparations
  • Voter Rights
No Result
View All Result
Black Politics Now
No Result
View All Result

Examining the connection Between racism and mental health

Black Politics Now by Black Politics Now
February 18, 2025
in Health
0
Examining the connection Between racism and mental health
74
SHARES
1.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Hate Crime Trends in California

You might also like

Columbus Health Commissioner among 17 vaccine safety panelists fired by RFK Jr.

Sickle cell trait linked to elevated acute heart failure in Black Americans

Understanding prostate cancer trials for Black men

Feb 14, 2024 Story by: Editor

In the Columbia Mailman Psychiatric Epidemiology Training (PET) Program, fellows receive five years of funding and are encouraged to deeply explore significant issues in the field. During weekly seminars, faculty offer guidance and promote thoughtful discussions. “For the first three, sometimes four years, we encourage fellows to make a presentation that doesn’t include data—focus on what interests you, what bugs you; tell us what you care about,” says Professor of Epidemiology Katherine Keyes, who co-directs the program. “The scholars we produce know how to generate important questions with high-quality study designs underlying them.”

PET faculty members set a strong example by investigating racial disparities in mental health diagnoses in the United States. “At the end of the day, we know that Black folks and people of color have very different lived experiences in this country and that has affected their health outcomes,” says former PET fellow John R. Pamplin II, MPH ’14, PhD ’20, now a Columbia Mailman assistant professor of epidemiology. 

Racial differences have been documented in asthma rates, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, maternal and infant health outcomes, and overall lifespan, with stark disparities highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pamplin’s doctoral research examined differences in depression and suicidality, topics that Keyes, MPH’06, PhD’10, also a former PET fellow, has studied for over a decade.

Recently, PET faculty, including Pamplin and Keyes, have focused on the role of structural racism in schizophrenia. “When it comes to schizophrenia and psychosis, there’s evidence that folks from marginalized racial groups—in particular, folks with Black, African, or Caribbean racial/ethnic identity in Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States—have a higher prevalence of schizophrenia,” Pamplin explains. “Those prevalences aren’t as elevated in places where those groups are dominant. It has to do with racial marginalization.”

Ezra Susser, the Anna Cheskis Gelman and Murray Charles Gelman Professor of Epidemiology, who has a long history of research in this area, points to structural racism as a critical framework for understanding disparities in schizophrenia. His work has examined the impact of paternal age, maternal nutrition, and complications during pregnancy on schizophrenia. “It’s not just for unpacking what’s going on,” Susser says. “It suggests that you also need changes to that system. Ideally, you would change the structures, and if you can’t change them, at least mitigate the effects.”

Efforts to untangle the causes of disparities in psychiatric diagnoses have been fraught with bias and flawed data. For instance, the search for genetic explanations has often overlooked significant factors. Pamplin notes, “The genetic variation among Black people is greater than that between Black and white folks. That should give us pause as to whether genetic differences are the relevant factors to explain racial differences in health.” Susser emphasizes humility in this quest for understanding, especially considering the history of racism in psychiatry. Despite advancements in diagnostic criteria and treatment for schizophrenia over the past 50 years, race-based disparities in diagnosis rates persist.

Susser and Pamplin began discussing these issues early in Pamplin’s doctoral studies. They suspected there was more to the story than diagnostic bias. In 2023, the American Journal of Psychiatry published Susser’s editorial with Els van der Ven, a clinical psychologist at the University of Amsterdam, on ethnoracial differences in the incidence of treated psychotic disorders among nearly 6 million people insured by Kaiser Permanente Northern California. They highlighted the scarcity of high-quality population-based incidence data and the absence of measures for diagnostic bias as barriers to understanding the underlying causes of disparities.

Keyes underscores the long-standing legacy of PET scholars in addressing contemporary public health challenges, from HIV to young adult mental health and homelessness. “Structural racism is a huge determinant of population mental health, especially for racially minoritized populations,” she says. “We have a responsibility to develop measures, insights, into how these processes work.”
By focusing on these critical issues, PET scholars aim to generate impactful research and drive systemic changes to improve mental health outcomes for marginalized communities. Source: Mailman School of Public Health Columbia

Share30Tweet19
Black Politics Now

Black Politics Now

Recommended For You

Columbus Health Commissioner among 17 vaccine safety panelists fired by RFK Jr.

by Black Politics Now
June 11, 2025
0
Columbus Health Commissioner among 17 vaccine safety panelists fired by RFK Jr.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed all 17 members on June 9, of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), including Columbus–Franklin County...

Read moreDetails

Sickle cell trait linked to elevated acute heart failure in Black Americans

by Black Politics Now
May 29, 2025
0
Sickle cell trait linked to elevated acute heart failure in Black Americans

A recent study published in the Annals of Hematology has identified a significant association between sickle cell trait (SCT) and an increased risk of acute heart failure among...

Read moreDetails

Understanding prostate cancer trials for Black men

by Black Politics Now
May 28, 2025
0
Understanding prostate cancer trials for Black men

Prostate cancer remains a significant health concern for men in the United States, with Black men facing a disproportionately higher risk. According to the American Cancer Society, Black...

Read moreDetails

CDC budget ax puts Michigan’s sickle cell lifeline—and Black patients—on the brink

by Black Politics Now
May 20, 2025
0
CDC budget ax puts Michigan’s sickle cell lifeline—and Black patients—on the brink

A recent round of federal budget cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has put Michigan’s groundbreaking sickle cell data collection program—and the tens of...

Read moreDetails

Momnibus Act aims to improve maternal health nationally despite budget cuts

by Black Politics Now
May 13, 2025
0
Momnibus Act aims to improve maternal health nationally despite budget cuts

Congressional Democrats have reintroduced the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act (“Momnibus Act”), a sweeping package of legislation designed to tackle the United States’ maternal health crisis. The package...

Read moreDetails
Next Post
Biden faces challenges with Black voter support: Alarm bells ringing

Biden faces challenges with Black voter support: Alarm bells ringing

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT

Related News

Racial discrimination in contemporary America

Racial discrimination in contemporary America

February 18, 2025
Morris Griffin speaking at a California reparations task force meeting in Oakland on December 14, 2022. (Jeff Chiu / AP File)

Track the Success of California’s 14 Reparations Bills for Black Residents

October 21, 2024
man standing on stage facing an american flag

Statement on the shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum

May 22, 2025
Black Politics Now

Get informed on African American politics with "Black Politics Now," your ultimate source for political engagement.

CATEGORIES

  • Business
  • Civil Rights
  • Congressional Black Caucus
  • Criminal Justice
  • Data
  • Department of Justice
  • Diversity Initiatives
  • Education
  • Elections
  • Enviroment
  • Equity
  • Hate Crimes
  • Health
  • Housing
  • Investigations
  • Legal Defense Fund
  • NAACP
  • Policy
  • Real Estate
  • Reparations
  • Research
  • Sports
  • State Issues
  • Study
  • Supreme Court
  • Technology
  • Voter Rights
  • World

Quick Link

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of service
  • Contact us

Download Our App

© 2024 Black Politics Now | All Right Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Civil Rights
  • Criminal Justice
  • Education
  • Elections
  • Health
  • Policy
  • Reparations
  • Voter Rights
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Cart
SUBSCRIBE

© 2024 Black Politics Now | All Right Reserved

Join the Movement, Subscribe Now!(Don't worry, we'll never spam you!)

Don’t miss a beat—get the latest news, inspiring stories, and in-depth coverage of the issues that matter most to the Black community. Be part of the conversation and stay connected.

Enter your email address