Lessening the impact of the stigma of mental illness within a young adult African American male culture: A strategic intervention

The goal of this dissertation is to lessen the negative impact of self-stigma on young adult African American males in order to improve mental health treatment seeking behaviors. Stigma is consistently cited as a prolific barrier to mental health care and this dissertation operates to de-stigmatize mental illness and mental health treatment by challenging the image of mental illness as a weakness and address common cultural beliefs about this topic by providing psychoeducational material in an efficient way. Although there are numerous local and national anti-stigma campaigns currently in practice, no such program seems to specifically target and address the needs of young adult African American males, a population that reports less treatment seeking behavior for mental health care than Caucasians. After reviewing the literature on the stigma of mental illness among young adult African American males, an original booklet of information to be disseminated onto the target population and the public is provided.;This dissertation also offers recommendations on how to engage the target population in a culturally sensitive manner and possible settings to effectively access this community. The booklet is designed in a way to make people feel more comfortable with seeking help and includes psychoeducational information such as relevant definitions, the exposure of myths and inaccurate public beliefs, and the benefits of obtaining treatment.