Mental illness is a growing problem in America. Currently, approximately 26.2% of Americans suffer from a mental disorder. A mental illness/disorder is a medical condition that disturbs a person's thinking, feelings, mood, and ability to relate to others and daily functions. Mental illness can affect humans of any age, race, gender, and socioeconomic status. However, the care needed to effectively treat and help those affected by the disease is not the same for everyone here in America, especially African Americans. Health care for mental illness is a problem in the African American community for men, women, and adolescents. due to the scarcity and lack of mental healthcare providers, the cultural stigma of having a mental illness, and the socioeconomic status of African Americans. The African American community has suffered from the problem of inadequate mental health care for many decades. There is a profound lack of understanding about what mental illness is and there are many barriers that prevent African Americans from receiving the care they need. People are unaware of the effects of mental illness and what mental illness can encompass. “More importantly, mental health includes people's feelings of value in the context of the entire cultural and social system, as well as within the identifiable groups to which they belong.” (Snowden, 165) The experience you receive as a race and how you perceive your race are part of mental illness. Many African Americans despise their own race because of the socioeconomic hierarchy that society has given people. African Americans are at high risk of developing mental illnesses. Health care providers have misdiagnosed many African Americans due to lack of knowledge. “African Americans in… middle of paper… 3. Abstract. EBSCO eBook Collection. Network. .NAMI. “Mental Health of the African American Community.” NAMI. Np, nd Web. March 14, 2014. .Snowden, Lonnie R. Barriers to Effective Mental Health Services for African Americans. Np: np, 2001. Print. Mental Health Services Research 4.Stagman, Shannon, and Janice L. Cooper. “Children's Mental Health.” WWW.nccp.org. Ed. Columbia University. Columbia University and Web. March 14, 2014. .Ward, Earlise C. African American women's beliefs about mental illness, stigma, and preferred coping behaviors. Madison: Wiley Periodicals, 2009. Print.Willie, Charles V., Bernard M. Kramer, and Bertram S. Brown, eds. Racism Racism Racism and mental health. Np: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1973. Print. Contemporary Community Health Series.