Inequities in behavioral health: What do we really know?

Behavioral health problems are ubiquitous in today's society. Social, environmental, and physical stressors impact our daily activities and wellness, contributing to mental health conditions, both diagnosed and undiagnosed, as well as substance use. We know that populations and identities are not equally impacted. Populations who experience greater stressors suffer more. Structures and systems cause and reinforce inequities in health, inclusive of behavioral health. Still, there is insufficient understanding of the existing disparities in behavioral health. Right now, what do we know? And perhaps more importantly, what do we know that we do not know? Behavioral health itself is an inequity in health care. Predominantly isolated from physical health, we still have not achieved parity in preventive measures, access, management, or reimbursement for care. We cannot let what we do not know prevent us from advocating for adequate resource allocation and prioritizing community driven solutions for populations with the greatest needs. These efforts must shift from programmatic interventions to full-scale paradigm shifts in public policy and adoption of disaggregated racial data to effectively narrow the gaps in equality and help us address behavioral health with the respect deserved to balance inequities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).