July is minority mental
Health Awareness Month.
It's observed to destigmatize
mental health struggles within
racial and ethnic communities.
I'm joined by Doctor Callie D Cyrus,
licensed psychiatrist to talk about
the goals of this month. First of all,
it's really wonderful to meet you.
Thanks for coming in.
Thanks for having me.
So why is having a month designated
to this important in your opinion?
I think
if you just like Black History Month
to make sure that we're actually
drawing attention to the fact
that this is an issue within this.
Community we knew.
We know that racial minorities
and also LGBTQI folks.
So other identity minorities have a
hard time finding access and then also
qualified professionals to treat them.
And so this is a month to say let's
start talking about these issues
just to make sure we actually get to
it. You know, during the pandemic
it seemed like a lot of different
apps popped up and different,
you know, access to mental health
if you needed help somewhere to go.
How did it change during the pandemic?
In your opinion? Yeah, so for me it's
actually a positive change
because for the first time.
I felt like everyone was talking about
mental health and for the IT felt way
less destigmatize in my own words.
So I think people had a lot more
avenues to be able to talk about mental
health with someone which definitely
increased during the pandemic.
But I think we also saw a shortage
and so right now at least so many of
the therapists and psychiatrists I
know are packed in their schedules,
so demand is even higher than usual.
This a little off script,
but did the pandemic sort of
expose different vulnerabilities?
Do you think that we all have?
Yes, OK, yes again,
think about when was the last time
in history where everyone was going
through the same stressful experience.
And so I think we saw folks who are
already interested in therapy seek
those services and then we saw new
folks for the first time looking
into getting therapy so many of
patients that I have were for the
first time never saw a psychiatrist.
Never saw therapist and that's
really wonderful.
Absolutely OK. So let's get into the racial
and ethnic minorities here affected.
How are we affected when it comes to
mental health and also getting the help?
Yes, so first of all there is a shortage
of mental health professionals who are at
least from racial minority backgrounds.
That's one thing too.
The cost, the cost, the cost because
it's not covered by insurance generally.
Maybe that's changing some,
but we there's this concept called parity.
Do you pay for mental health care as
much as you pay for physical healthcare?
And because we don't have that,
that equality, then it's really
hard to get mental health care.
You have to pay out of pocket if
your insurance doesn't cover it.
And that's one of the reasons
why it's hard to find.
Professionals who you can afford or
that your insurance doesn't cover,
and there's also just not as many
black or Latinx psychiatrists or
mental health professionals in general
because of extensive training and
what it what it costs in general.
You know, educational issues.
I would think that that would be
important to see representation
for a lot of people. So so how do?
How do we make that work then?
So it's it's really tough,
you know, even me myself,
I see someone who's not black,
because that's what's available in the area.
Where I was looking initially,
but I think that that's changing some,
and so while you might not be
able to find a black psychiatrist
or a black psychologist,
you might be able to find a black
social worker or someone else.
So there are a lot of other fields that
of individuals who provide therapy,
and sometimes that's a great option.
If that's also what you can
afford and who's around.
But we need to increase the
amount of of opportunities to
be able to get in this field,
which I hope the pandemic has
done has really motivated folks.
OK. Is there any way to get any free help
out there so there is the.
Access helpline that we have
here in DC that you can call
if you immediately need help,
and there's also a crisis
line with that as well.
You can dial 311 and they
can connect you there.
You can also. That
might be it. Yeah, right right right.
Which is interesting because you talked.
You spoke about parity
with physical and mental.
When you seek help we talked about
stigma within the communities,
but it seems like there's also a
stigma within the medical community.
If that's still true,
it is true. It is true.
I mean, even just being a psychiatrist
who went to medical school.
A lot of folks don't even understand
that I went to school with
surgeons and the pediatricians.
There's just a lot of unknowns
and maybe we don't talk about
this field so much, so I think.
People have a big question mark.
So how do we destigmatize?
And I think that is talking about
what's out there and what's available
so that you don't feel is like you
have to look this up in some secret
place to be able to gain access
that it's more accessible to you.
That is easily,
you know something that we talk
about across the dinner table.
Did you see your therapist just like you?
Go talk about your primary care doctor,
right?
Right? We've been talking about,
you know, racial and ethnic minorities.
Let me get into some family business here.
We as black people we we need to work on how.
We talk about mental health,
how we look at people who are.
Say I need help.
Do you see that ever going away?
How can we get there?
I will say it is getting
better. We have Michelle Obama
talking about her mental health.
We have Taraji Henson who has her foundation
where she addresses mental health.
So I see a lot more celebrities are coming
out and I think again with the pandemic more.
My practice is exclusively black
and brown and LGBTQI individuals.
And I've seen again so many black older women
who for the first time are coming to therapy.
So I think something is happening.
Where you either can't take it anymore
and we need to start talking about it,
but it doesn't mean something's
wrong with you.
Just like again, you might have
diabetes or high blood pressure.
What if your brain and all the social
stressors that are going on have
triggered some kind of depression
that really does create like a Gray
lens where you are seeing the world
through a extreme negativity bias?
And why not just talk about it?
It's not your fault necessarily and
talking about it actually does help,
right?
And before we let you go.
If left untreated, I know it
depends on on exactly what the
struggle is that you need help with,
but if left untreated it doesn't get better
now. Right now it might ebb and flow.
It might get better for a little while,
but it's going to come back again,
which is why it's important to connect
with someone who can help you understand
what's happening and create some coping
mechanisms or strategies for when you notice.
This starts to happen, which may be
connecting with your family members.
It might be working out or going to yoga.
It might be going to church,
it might be just getting out of
the house and exposing yourself.
Sunshine, but if you hold it yourself,
it's going to weigh you down right?
O Doctor Cyrus,
we do a get uplifted story every day.
We try to balance all this
heavy news that we do.
We also have a get uplifted hotline.
Just a little pep talk.
Messages of encouragement.
How important is that?
Oh wow, that's super cool first of all.
So one we our brains, we tend to notice
the negative more than the positive.
So for every one negative
thing you might think or hear,
you need 5 positive things to actually,
you know, counteract that.
So when you think about leaving a,
leaving messages, or being able
to call into a message like this,
that's so powerful to have access one.
Just hearing someone's voice you
process physically and mentally,
and you could hold on to that.
You can replay it.
I'm not sure if that's possible,
but again,
think about how many letters you've
saved or other voicemails that might
have some special meaning to you and
what that can give to someone who
may not have anything else or any
other positivity coming their way.
OK, well, we're going to keep it going.
And meantime.
It's been a pleasure to speak with you.
How can other people get in touch with you?
I know you said you're busy,
but if somebody's trying to reach out
to to sit with you, yeah, so you can
find me on. Most social media
handles among Facebook.
I'm on Twitter, I'm on Instagram
at at Doctor Callie Cyrus.
OK, alright awesome.