Well, July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, a month dedicated to bringing awareness to the unique challenges that racial and ethnic minorities face in the U.S. when it comes to mental illness.

According to a report by the Food and Drug Administration, fewer than one in two African American adults got mental health care in 2020.

It also found that Asian Americans were 60% less likely to receive mental health treatment than non-Hispanic whites.

Jasmine Bridges with U of L Health Peace Hospital, a behavioral health hospital, says minorities often face greater obstacles than whites when it comes to seeking treatment for mental health issues.

I think it's important for us to recognize minority mental health moms because for decades and still, even to this day, there really is a stigma surrounding mental health services and mental health support.

Yes, this stigma crosses various cultural backgrounds, but specifically regarding African-Americans, historically, we didn't always seek mental health support from what we call professional.

We didn't lean on more So each other family, the church or other spiritual or religious affiliations.

So I think it's important for us to continue to have these open and honest conversations that kind of help remove that stigma so that people who are struggling from abuse, struggling with alcohol and other substances so that they see that, number one, it's safe to seek help.

It's okay to seek help, and we're here to help you.

So I think that's one of the reasons why it's important.

Mental health can be in these things from what's going on within your head, things like anxiety, stress, depression.

We talk about you know, bipolar disorder, schizo psychosis or schizophrenia and also using substances, being addicted to something that affects your ability to maintain yourself and care for yourself or care for others.

And also looking at just where you are in society, Do you live in a specific area with a lot of poverty or violence or crime or what's going on around you?

Bridges also says when it comes to speaking up about minority mental health, representation matters.

She commended Olympic gold medalist gymnast Simone Biles, who had openly struggled with her own mental health after pulling out of the Tokyo Olympics because of a mental block.

But I'm glad she decided to do that for a single, because I think it will help other people and other young girls, black girls especially.

I mean, you know, black females, ninth through 12th grade, had 60% higher suicide attempts than white females, according to the Office of Minority Health.

So we need to be having those conversations.

We need to be having them in schools and for someone like some someone who looks like us to make that decision, I think absolutely it will help.

Biles is competing in the Paris Olympics, where today, by the way, she and the U.S. women's gymnastics team won team gold.