As awareness about black lives and systematic racism raises, it is essential to tackle the less talked about, most avoided topics in the Black Community. Considered a taboo, in both the African American and the African community, the instance of mental illness in our community is prevalent as it is in other communities and the rest of the population.
When it comes to mental illness, there is a lack of understanding. Without mental health, we cannot be healthy. People go through ups and downs all the time; however, mental illness goes beyond these trials. Mental illness conditions affect the way we think and feel, changing our daily lives as it makes it harder to relate to others and function like once before. It’s biology. Mental illness is no one’s fault, and anyone can develop a mental health problem.
African Americans are 20% more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population, mostly because of circumstances placed upon the community by systematic racism. Hear me out, where a non-POC may read this and yell "victim," suicide among young African American men is as common as is PTSD among young African American Children, since they are more likely to be exposed to conditions that increase the risk of mental illnesses. These conditions include exposure to violence as well as the infamous lead paint poison.
In the POC community, we have somewhere engraved that mental illness is either a personal weakness, some sort of spiritual attack or karma. This allows mental health issues to fester, and sadly sometimes leads to suicidal thoughts or actions. A lot of POC report their biological change of health way later than others. And this is more so due to the taboos than the lack of understanding. See, being POC, our culture is reinforced by our faith, prayer is our remedy and as an African, I know that some point the blame to those witches and wizards against their triumphs abroad, all of this can result in misdiagnosing. The doctor would only hear “witch”, “attack” and “pray” and conclude with their own bias, a diagnosis and treatment.
Awareness needs to be raised, nothing can be solved if our mentalities are in the hands of those that lack cultural competence. Culture, a person’s beliefs, values and norms, should be understood by both the doctor and the patient in order for the doctor to properly treat and diagnose. Without an understanding of culture, how can your doctor adapt treatment to meet your needs?
