Recently Kid Cudi released a statement on twitter explaining that he checked himself into rehab for his severe depression and anxiety. He went on to explain that he’d been battling these traumas for years and couldn’t remember what it felt like to be at peace. What was most shocking, and perhaps the saddest, thing about his statement was his apology. He apologized for being broken, for being depressed, for not being whole. What’s more is he was ashamed for something that he cannot help.
Reactions on twitter varied. Many sent their condolences to him, encouraging him to seek help, congratulating him for it, and rejecting his apology simply because he did not need one. Others, however, were quick to call mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety fake. They insisted that having these illnesses means you must get closer to God, that your relationship with him must be severed in some way. Not surprisingly, most of the people who held these beliefs were black. While the black church has notable importance in black culture and black spirituality has always been a crucial element to Blackness, its relationship with mental illnesses is one that cannot be ignored. Mental disorders in the black community simply don’t exist and if they do, one only needs to take it up with The Lord to fix them. Mental disorders are not chemical imbalances in the brain, but merely the devil’s ploy to infiltrate your mind and your Spirit.
Despite the stigma that “black people don’t have those problems” and depression is a “white issue,” statistics tell otherwise. Blacks are more likely to go through psychological distress, more likely to have feelings of worthlessness, and black adolescents are more likely to attempt suicide than their white counterparts. This makes sense, given the societal woes many people of color face. What doesn’t make sense is that blacks are noticeably apprehensive of seeking help simply because of the stigmas around it. With the rate of suicide among black youth rapidly increasing (it’s doubled since the 1990s and is now higher than that of whites which had never happened on a national study), it is time for black communities to rethink mental illnesses and what that means. It is time for the black community to stop proclaiming that individuals suffering from disorders are merely pawns of the devil’s dirty work. Mental illnesses are real. They exist. They cannot be cured by a prayer and a dosage of Holy Water. Depression is simply not just a sadness—it is not having an off day. It is not wanting to get out of bed in the morning; it is forcing a faux smile despite not even feeling alive; it is thinking death would be a better experience than being alive.
In addition to some people simply being in denial about their disorders, some (adolescents especially) simply won’t tell others because of the backlash they think they will receive so they suffer in silence. What message is being sent to individuals suffering that they feel the need to apologize for something they can’t help? Individuals with mental illnesses need not apologize for their illness, in fact, the very opposite needs to happen. The black community at large needs to apologize for the way individuals who have suffered through depression or other disorders are treated by their very own community.
Speaking out on one’s own disorders shouldn’t be met with an “our ancestors went through slavery, you need to stop being weak and deal with it.” The trauma of our ancestors should not be romanticized—we are a gloriously resilient people, but it’s idiotic to think they didn’t suffer through depression while they were enslaved. Not to mention, trauma can be passed down. Intergenerational trauma exists. The passing down of extreme psychological distress and PTSD-like symptoms exists. To discredit someone’s experiences simply because we are no longer enslaved is invalidating their very real mental illnesses, while simultaneously maintaining one of the largest psychological myths: the idea that the very internal experiences of mental illnesses are based on the very external experiences of one’s materialistic lifestyle. Depression does not just feed on those stricken with poverty, it can affect anybody in any circumstance.
Depression is real. Manic Depression is real. Schizophrenia is real. Anxiety is real. Mental illnesses are real. Suicide is real and it is something that is now disproportionately affecting our youth. Black people not only have to worry about society. They not only have to worry about being shot dead on the street and resting in their own blood for hours. They not only have to worry about microaggressions or mass incarceration or the wage gap. They also have to worry about themselves and their inner demons. These demons are not perfectly planted and curated by the Devil himself for the Lord to ward off. Black people are dying, and not just disproportionately due to the hand of others, but their own hand. It is up to us to take this seriously. It is up to us fix this. And while spirituality and religion can be extremely important, professional help needs to be sought. Naturally, there are reasons professional help cannot be sought even if it is wanted because of reasons such as inaccessibility. But mental health is an issue plaguing and damaging our psyches, our spirits, and our bodies. The stigmas permeating through black culture need to be put to an end and these issues need to be addressed.
