The news of Kanye West's breakdown and hospitalization has dominated the news for the past week and will continue to dominate headlines once again this week. If you somehow haven't heard yet, after Kanye ranted and ended his show in Sacramento after three songs, he was hospitalized. After a few days or so, it was reported that West seemed to be suffering from depression, paranoia, and other mental health issues. As Kanye West continues to suffer from his mental health issues, there are millions of other African Americans who are suffering from mental health issues as well.
Mental health is an issue in the black community, but it's an issue we do not address enough. Making up 13.2% of the United States population, 16% of African-Americans in the U.S. have been diagnosed with a mental illness, and that number continues to rise after each year. (United States Census Bureau, 2014) Along with the rising diagnosis of mental illnesses, the death rate from suicides has risen, with the rate of suicides being four times higher for African American men than African American women (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , 2014). Not to mention that, in general, African Americans are 20% more likely to experience serious mental health issues than the rest of the general population (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2016).
So why is there such a high rate of mental health issues within the African American community and why is this rate rising? As the decades’ past, the reasons for this disparity in African American mental health continue to grow. For starters, the root cause for these mental health issues can be traced back to slavery times. Tactics such as buck breaking and others were used to make African Americans feel less than human and lose sight of their actual self-worth. Throughout time, the tactics have evolved, causing many African Americans to feel less than human to this day. With obstacles, such as institutionalized racism, exposure to violence and others, many African Americans are left feeling hopeless and find no point in their lives, leading to a rising suicide rate.
While things may seem bleak, there are many ways we can fix the problem in the African American communities. We need to start supporting and uplifting each other more. Instead of trying to “flex” on each other, we should do more to help each other get to get better. We also need to take more time addressing mental health in our communities and identifying signs of mental illness so we can help the people in need soon rather than later.
