Black Americans may be diagnosed with schizophrenia at least twice as often compared to the general population. However, some may actually be misdiagnosed with schizophrenia instead of bipolar disorder, according to Khadijah Watkins, MD, Psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
In this video, learn the reasons behind the misdiagnosis and the differences between the two disorders.
Dr. Watkins is a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she's the Associate Director of The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, and was previously the Associate Training Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Training Program.
References
Gara, Michael A., et al. (2018). A naturalistic study of racial disparities in diagnoses at an outpatient behavioral health clinic. Psychiatric Services.
National Institute of Mental Health. (N.D.). Bipolar disorder.
National Institute of Mental Health. (N.D.). Schizophrenia.
Schwartz, Robert C, et al. (2014). Racial disparities in psychotic disorder diagnosis: A review of empirical literature. World Journal of Psychiatry.
Williams, David R., et al. (2000). Understanding and addressing racial disparities in health care. Health Care Financing Review.
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