Opioids Deaths Among the African American Community Relative to Mental Health - Free Essay

Human health is of fundamental concern not only in the United States of America but also globally. Therefore, many agencies and measures have been introduced to foster the betterment of human health both in the present and the future by addressing the most prevalent health risks and intervention avenues. Some of the health risk factors can be easily mitigated while others are complex and have resulted in havoc and tension globally, such as cancer, which has a hard bone to chew. Mental health has raised concerns worldwide due to its prevalence among the world population, irrespective of gender, age, ethnicity, or nationality. However, mental health risk factors have often varied from stress, anxiety, trauma, and mental illness to drug abuse. In the U.S. drug abuse, and more opioids have been the leading risk factors for mental health, as depicted by the opioid crisis. The opioid crisis is caused by several factors: the accessibility of illegal or prescription opioids, close association with opioid abusers, and residing in rural or low-income neighborhoods. This task targets the African American population to address the rising death trend among them, resulting from the abuse of opioids.

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Awareness is thus of immense contribution towards enlightening people about the dangers of opioids while at the same time, linking them to the proper facilitates for treatment. It is ascertained that about 128 individuals succumb to opioid overdose daily in the U.S. Dating back to the period between 1960 and 1970, as well as the situation as it is currently, the black population has faced the worse side of opioid addiction (James & Jordan, 2018). The issue of mental health can be conclusively linked to the opioid crisis as drugs impair effective cognitive processes and the formation of meaningful social interactions. Assessing better rehabilitation and mental health facilities is a challenge. Approximately 30% of African Americans seek psychological assistance with an overstretched medical system that does not offer medical insurance, thus suffering from sickness as they can not afford active medical presence (James & Jordan, 2018). Considering that drug abuse is not the sole cause of mental illness, it might be induced as solutions to the already existing psychological problems such as stress, depression, and anxiety, among others.

Many would question the reasons behind blacks succumbing more to opioids, unlike whites or other races in the U.S., and this may be attributed to the following factors. They face an inferiority complex which results from the kind of neighborhoods the majority of them reside in; illegal drugs are easily accessible in their communities, majority of them are trapped in the bondage of poverty and illiteracy due to lack of education, the prevalent use of drugs by black role models such as celebs thus sending the wrong messages to their fans and most of all the feeling of oppression due to being a minority group in a white-dominated society (Scommegna,2019). To negate this problem, this African American population has to be enabled to boost their power over as well as better the quality of their life and health. For this to occur, various individuals and organizations have to be involved in playing distinct roles, all directed toward halting this devastating trend in the African-American community in the present and the future (Bergese et al., 2019). To promote health concepts, the following domains are essential, a positive and broad health aspect, involvement and participation, action proficiency, establishing stance, and equity in health. The above steps are part of a broader spectrum that involves facilitating, conciliating, and advocating for the overall aid of the challenges facing this population (Scommegna,2019). Part of the advocacy can include campaigning towards eliminating illegal drugs in African American neighborhoods or hindering the access or avenues for illegally acquiring prescription opioids without the guidance of qualified medical personnel. Measures can be incorporated towards educating this population on the dangers of opioid abuse on their health, social life, and economic life as well as on the lives of those around them, be it, friends or family.

Nationally, whites have the highest population of Opioid users. However, African Americans have depicted a steady increase with opioid deaths shooting up to about forty-three percent and only twenty-two percent in whites, as seen in the last five years (James & Jordan, 2018). A lot of the intervention to address the opioid crisis has been aimed at salvaging the white population. In contrast, in a significant way, African Americans have been left outside without much recognition. In many of the states, opioid overdose for blacks is relatively higher compared to that of whites. Considering that most of them continue to languish in addiction due to the failure to be afforded the proper medical care, it is certain that if attention were given to them to treat and rehabilitate those addicted to opioids, the rising death rate among this population would be halted. Moreover, avenues and agencies have to be created to incorporate individuals suffering from addiction to facilitate their rehabilitation and treatment, thus saving their lives and enabling them to regain their productive personality.

References

James, K., & Jordan, A. (2018). The opioid crisis in black communities. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 46(2), 404-421.

Scommegna, P. (2019). Analyzing How the Opioid Crisis Affects Different Groups Can Lead to Its Solution. The Opioid Crisis, 67.

Stoicea, N., Costa, A., Periel, L., Uribe, A., Weaver, T., & Bergese, S. D. (2019). Current perspectives on the opioid crisis in the U.S. healthcare system: a comprehensive literature review. Medicine, 98(20).