Students Of Color Less Likely To Receive Mental Health Treatment Than Whites, Study Suggests

First Posted: Aug 16, 2016 08:03 PM EDT

The United States may pledge equality and justice for all, but a new study found that despite similar rate of mental health problems, black and Hispanic students are less likely to receive mental health care treatment than their Caucasian counterparts.

Family History Of Undertreatment May Discourage Blacks From Seeking Mental Health Carehttps://t.co/yXtS1ri8Th pic.twitter.com/KACFczMFZF

— BlackDoctor (@blackdoctor) August 15, 2016

This inherent racial inequality has been plaguing educational institutions for a long time. The study published in the International Journal of Health Services said that based on the information they have taken covering all 50 states in 2006 to 2012, black and Latino children make 37 and 49 percent fewer visits to psychiatrists compared to white children.

Assessment is even worse for outpatient mental health services. According to the International Business Times, whites received three times more services than blacks and Hispanics, and a similar rate can be said for substance abuse counseling - with black young adults standing at one-seventh the rate for whites.

The problem is not only with the race. Gender also plays a factor, with females receiving less mental health care than male children, however the rate is reversed for young adults - more females visit mental health care professionals as teens and young adults compared to males.

This issue is especially problematic considering that black and Hispanic young men have low mental health visit rates, but they are at the highest risk for imprisonment. On a more realistic standpoint, at least half of inmates in the US suffer from mental illness, but have been left untreated at the time of the arrest.

The organization Black Matters is indignant about the biases in America's health sector, noting that "this is so unfair to humanity" considering the numbers blacks represent in the criminal justice system compared to the mental health treatment that they should be receiving as members of the American Society.