Can you honestly say that you are taking care of yourself? If so, what does that look like? It comes pretty easy to some people. But for others, it can be confusing, scary, or feel like you are ascending into a dark-clouded room. The element of the unknown can lead to more anxiety and fear.
For this series, I want to explore those fears, with the intention on overcoming them. I want you to reclaim yourself. Let's get in touch with who we are; who we want to be. But first, we need to progress passed the stigma.
Lately, the topic of mental health, specifically in the black community is finally on the table for discussion. In my humble opinion, this is long over due.
I am unapologetically championing for the well-being of melanated folk. These ideas are universal and I advocate for all human-beings to take care of their mental health. However, I want to emphasize the importance of Afrocentric people of the diaspora, taking time to self-care mentally, physically, psychologically, and spiritually.
Before we can begin the work, let's take a look at what can be the root causes for the rise in mental illness within the black and brown communities. First, I want to be clear. I am aware that we are not a monolith and this is an over-generalization. But we must at least have a starting point.
In May of 2020, Danial H. Gillison, Jr. CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) released a statement about the impact on mental health after experiencing continued racial incidents. He said, “The effect of racism and racial trauma on mental health is real and cannot be ignored. The disparity in access to mental health care in communities of color cannot be ignored. The inequality and lack of cultural competency in mental health treatment cannot be ignored."
He went on to say, “Our nation’s African American community is going through an extremely painful experience, pain that has been inflicted upon this community repeatedly throughout history and is magnified by mass media and repeated deaths." Though there are those who choose to ignore the obvious racism problem in our country, the issue still exists.
Let's get something straight, I'm not here to solve our nations race problems, nor do I claim to have all the answers. Indeed, there is much that needs to be done to address racism in America. But the significance of mental health in the black community must be dealt with.
I grew up in Flatbush Brooklyn, New York. The idea of therapy was not a thing. I can recall the very idea of “seeing a shrink”, as they say, was a "white-people-thing". The stigma surrounding mental health in the black community decrease chances of facing it head on. As a collective, African Americans suffer massive amount of pain, tragedy, oppression, depression, systemic racism, injustice, and experience the most multi-generational trauma. Nevertheless, we spend the least amount of time trying to find ways to cope with it. We just suck it up and keep it moving.
Through all that, I refuse to claim victim-hood. Conversely, I do recognize, we are not invulnerable to pain and trauma. Though the world seems to think so. For instance, a pregnant black woman is told that she's okay after complaints that she is experiencing complications. This later results in miscarriages and in some cases, death. Similarly, a black man is shamed for sharing his trauma-related-Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder-like-emotional-state to his peers.
In my next post, I will introduce some evidence-based practices that we can conduct for self-care and contending with mental illness. See you on the other side. Peace and blessings.
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