Pathways to care for African Americans with early psychosis.

Research examining pathways to care among African Americans with recent-onset psychosis is limited but suggests that African Americans have more complex and less desirable routes into care compared with whites. Delays in treatment of psychotic illness contribute to increasing rates of hospitalization, lengths of stay, long-term functional disability, and poor outcomes. African Americans may be less likely to seek help than whites, which may be due partly to stigma and beliefs in the African-American community about causes of mental illness as well as to external obstacles, such as involuntary civil commitment. Because African Americans are more likely than whites to seek assistance in primary care, the general practitioner or family physician has a potentially greater role in the identification of psychotic illnesses among African Americans. Further research is necessary to evaluate the role of ethnicity in treatment delays among patients with recent-onset psychotic illnesses.