Originally designated as “National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month,” BIPOC Mental Health Month was created to bring awareness to the unique mental health challenges of that underrepresented and underserved communities of color face and promoting effective strategies that eradicate stigma, break down barriers and ensure equitable access to culturally responsive mental health support.

First announced by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008, BIPOC Mental Health Month was originally named the Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month after Bebe Moore Campbell, author and co-founder of the National Alliance on Mental Health Urban Los Angeles office. Bebe understood the irreputable harm that people of the BIPOC community was facing for not seeking health for Mental Health challenges as a well as the lack of access to care.

The term Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) is used instead of the term ‘minority’ in ensure the use of inclusive, person-first language and respecting the self-identification and personhood of all people and communities of color.

According to US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, “Approximately 23% of all adults in the U.S. have a mental illness (Reinert et al., 2022). Mental illness among BIPOC is likely to be more persistent and BIPOC often bear a disproportionately high burden of disability resulting from mental illnesses (APA, n.d.). Research suggests that a lack of culturally sensitive screening tools that detect mental illness, coupled with structural barriers could contribute to underdiagnosis of mental illness among people of color (Ndugga et al., 2024)”. 

The National Alliance on Mental Illness - New York City Metro division has several educational, social groups and support groups dedicated to Mental Health issues this month and beyond.

Additional educational resources include: 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “Prioritizing Minority Mental Health”
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: “National Minority Mental Health Month”
CDC: Health Equity: “Minority Health and Health Equity Features”

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