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• Poverty level affects mental health status. African Americans living below the poverty level, as compared to those over twice the poverty level, are 3 times more likely to report psychological distress.
• African Americans are 20% more likely to report having serious psychological distress than Non-Hispanic Whites.
• Non-Hispanic Whites are more than twice as likely to receive antidepressant prescription treatments as are Non-Hispanic Blacks.
• The death rate from suicide for African American men was almost four times that for African American women, in 2009.
• However, the suicide rate for African Americans is 60% lower than that of the Non-Hispanic White population.
• A report from the U.S. Surgeon General found that from 1980 - 1995, the suicide rate among African Americans ages 10 to 14 increased 233%, as compared to 120% of Non-Hispanic Whites.¹

MENTAL HEALTH STATUS:

Serious psychological distress among adults 18 years of age and over, percent, 2009-2010

Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
3.8	3.1	1.2

Source: CDC, 2012. Health United States, 2011. Table 59.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus11.pdf [PDF | 9.8MB]

Serious psychological distress among adults 18 years of age and over, percent of poverty level, 2009-2010

	African American	Non-Hispanic White	African American/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Below 100%	8.3	10.1	0.8
100% - less than 200%	3.5	5.5	0.6
200% - less than 400%	2.5	3.2	0.8

Source: CDC, 2012. Health United States, 2011. Table 59.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus11.pdf [PDF | 9.8MB]

Percent of population with feelings of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, or that everything is an effort, all of the time, among persons 18 years of age and over, 2010

	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Sadness	4.2	2.8	1.5
Hopelessness	2.4	2.0	1.2
Worthlessness	2.1	1.7	1.2
Everything is an effort	9.9	5.6	1.8

Source:  CDC 2012. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2010. Table 14.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_252.pdf [PDF | 8.43MB]

Percent of population with feelings of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, or that everything is an effort all of the time, among persons 18 years of age and over, 2010 - Men

	Non-Hispanic Black Men	Non-Hispanic White Men	Non-Hispanic Black Men/ Non-Hispanic White Men Ratio
Sadness	3.0	2.5	1.2
Hopelessness	2.0	1.9	1.1
Worthlessness	1.8	1.6	1.1
Everything is an effort	9.2	4.9	1.9

Source:  CDC 2012. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2010. Table 14.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_252.pdf[PDF | 3.1MB]

Percent of population with feelings of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, or that everything is an effort all of the time, among persons 18 years of age and over, 2010 ---Women

	Non-Hispanic Black Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	Non-Hispanic Black Women/ Non-Hispanic White Women Ratio
Sadness	5.2	3.2	1.6
Hopelessness	2.8	2.1	1.3
Worthlessness	2.5	1.9	1.3
Everything is an effort	10.4	6.1	1.7

Source:  CDC 2012. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2010. Table 14.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_252.pdf [PDF | 3.1MB]

Percent of population with feelings of nervousness or restlessness, among persons 18 years of age and over, 2010

	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Nervousness, all or most of time	3.8	4.9	0.8
Restlessness, all or most of time	7.4	6.4	1.2

Source:  CDC 2012. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2010. Table 16.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_252.pdf [PDF | 8.43MB]

DEATH RATES:

Age-Adjusted Death Rates for suicide, by sex, race and Hispanic Origin, 2009

	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black /Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male	9.3	23.2	0.4
Female	1.9	6.0	0.3
Total	5.3	14.3	0.4

Source:  CDC, 2012. National Vital Statistic Report. Vol. 60, Num 03 Table 17.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_03.pdf [PDF | 2MB]

Source: CDC, 2012. Health United States, 2011. Table 24.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus11.pdf [PDF | 9.8MB]

Death rates for suicide, age, race and Hispanic origin, 2009: Men

	African American Men	Non-Hispanic White Men	African American Men/ Non-Hispanic White Men Ratio
15-24 years	10.5	18.9	0.6
25-44 years	12.9	28.8	0.4
45-64 years	10.2	33.7	0.3
65 years and over	9.9	33.1	0.3
All ages	9.0	23.2	0.4

Source: CDC, 2012. Health United States, 2011. Table 39.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus11.pdf [PDF | 9.8MB]

Death rates for suicide, age, race and Hispanic origin, 2009: Women

	African American Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	African American Women/ Non-Hispanic White Women Ratio
15-24 years	2.2	4.0	0.6
25-44 years	2.7	8.1	0.3
45-64 years	2.6	10.6	0.2
65 years and over	1.0	4.5	0.2
All ages	1.9	6.0	0.3

Source: CDC, 2012. Health United States, 2011. Table 39.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus11.pdf [PDF | 9.8MB]

ADOLESCENTS:

Death Rates for Suicide: Ages 15 - 19, 2009

	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male	7.0	14.0	0.5
Female	1.8	3.5	0.5
Total	4.5	8.9	0.5

Source:  CDC, 2012. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [ACCESSED 07/07/2012]
http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html

Suicidal ideation among students in grades 9–12, 2009
Percent of students who seriously considered suicide

	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	7.8	10.5	0.7
Women	18.1	16.1	1.1

Source:  CDC, 2012. Health United States, 2011. Table 67.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus11.pdf [PDF, 9.8MB]

Suicidal ideation among students in grades 9–12, 2011
Percent of students who attempted suicide

	Black	White	Black/ White Ratio
Men	7.7	4.6	1.7
Women	8.8	7.9	1.1
Total	8.3	6.2	1.3

Source: CDC, 2012. High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. [Accessed 07/07/2012]
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline

ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE:

Percent of Adults age 18 and over who received mental health treatment or counseling in the past year, 2008

	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male	6.4	10.8	0.6
Female	10.5	20.8	0.5
Total	8.7	16.0	0.5

Source:  2010 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 17_3_1.2b
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/qrdr10/index.html

Percent of Adults age 18 and over who received prescription medications for mental health treatment or counseling, 2008

	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male	3.9	9.1	0.4
Female	8.1	18.3	0.4
Total	6.2	13.9	0.4

Source:  2010 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 17_3_3.2b
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/qrdr10/index.html

Adults age 18 and over with past year major depressive epidose who received treatment for the depression, 2009

Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
53.2	68.7	0.8

Source: 2011 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 7_1_1.2b
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/qrdr11/index.html