It’s shocking, really. As a people who have made serious and monumental strides in social, economical, political, and educational areas of pressure, we continue to adopt a substantial amount of responsibilities and are often given the short end of societal acceptances. While health issues such as diabetes, obesity, and heart diseases have come to the forefront of medical attention in black communities, issues involving the stresses of the mind continually fall to the wayside.
Why is this? The sooner we understand that mental health in our community is as much of an issue as physical health, the sooner we can create a discussion that breaks the stigma that has for so long stifled so many into silence or denial.
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Services, Adult African Americans are 20 percent more likely to report issues of serious psychological distress and 2 to 3 times more likely to report issues of mental illness when living below the poverty line, but a startling 63 percent of African Americans believe that issues of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and PTSD revolve around personal weakness. Young African American adults are far less likely to actively seek out mental health services or avenues, especially those with a higher education. It is no secret that, as a community, we are subjected to instances of poverty, single parent homes, societal inequalities, and a need for social reform, but we cannot go on thinking of mental health in the way that we do.
As a people, we are no strangers to trauma. The institutions of slavery, Jim Crow, and a nation built on the notion of the suppression of blacks were undeniably horrid in their own right, but their after effects continue even through today. As slaves, we were constantly forced to live under a shadow of anxiety, trauma, and fear of what or who could have their way with our men, women, children, lives, homes, and bodies. Existing this way for nearly 300 years and then, once the Civil War was over, expected to integrate into a society that still was reluctant to treat us as basic humans only adds to the trauma and mental strain that we were already subject to. Fast forward to today: where did all that trauma go? In truth, it has gone no where; we just have the option to get help now. But the question is will we?
“I don’t want anyone in my business.”
With this phrase comes a mindset that prevents so many of our people from getting the help that they need and only makes them suffer in silence. This mindset is nothing new, though. Internalizing pain and “pushing through” is something that we have become increasingly good at, if for no other reason than that for the longest time we did not have access to medical care and that mindset of singularity has been passed down. We create a correlation between asking for help and accepting weakness, but, in actuality, singing for help is one of the strongest things one can do. Asking for help does not denote weakness. Rather, it is the first step to healing those wounds that have been open for far too long.
