Mental Health Crisis in the Black Community- Jourdon Williams

 Mental Health Crisis in the Black Community

My entire life as a Black female, I never knew the severity of mental illness and how it should be taken serious. Let alone the severity of it within my own community. As I was growing up, whenever I would see someone displaying clear signs of a mental illness I was told to look the other way, it was drugs, or that it was something demonic inside of them and they needed prayer. But this never sat right with me. As a child it was obvious that the person wasn’t completely balanced mentally, at least for me to tell. But even then why would there need to be stigma attached to mental health?

Racial discrimination is a huge factor in todays mental health crisis. Dating back to slavery, slave owners would believe Black Americans had tough skin in a literal way. Meaning their skin were thicker and would be able to withstand a lot of experiments and surgeries without anesthesia. This caused a substantial amount of shock within the Black body which caused them to die. This is if a deadly infection didn’t already bring death to the person due to the lack of medical hygiene. 

This transfers into todays time when people assume Black people are mentally stronger which ultimately means they can withstand more abuse. This obviously is not true. Majority of human anatomy is made so that we can feel pain which is a signal to our body that we are not okay. There is no race or ethnicity that has stronger or tougher skin. We all have the same amount of layers within the skin. With the mentality that Black people are mentally stronger, this causes doctors to inaccurately diagnose them. “There must be something else wrong but you’re not (insert)” is what will happen when a doctor doesn’t see the a Black persons mental illness as serious. 

According to NAMI only 1 in 3 African Americans that are properly diagnosed with a mental illness. That means that there are millions of people who are mentally ill and are undiagnosed. Instead of receiving care at a mental hospital where they can properly get help, people seek ER’s which causes a longer wait time for other people who have life or death emergencies. “Less likely to receive guideline- consistent care. Less frequently included in research. And most likely to use emergency rooms and primary care rather than being at a medical facility” (NAMI 2). Without considering Black people in the research of mental health, there is no way anyone’s research is accurate. There are millions of unaccounted for mentally ill patients who walk these streets but may need to be in a institution. 

Why is it important to me?

As a young Black woman,  growing up in south central LA I couldn't help but see people with all kinds of mental illnesses walking the streets. I would often ask questions if I would notice the person visibly upset or displaying a symptom of a mental illness. Even with asking questions I was still able ti know something about that person is different. Thankfully I had immediate family who was open to explaining what was happening with the person. I know that there are many things that can either lead to mental illnesses including trauma but I'm aware that many people are born with it. Although people can be born with it, they may not display signs of it until later on in life. I also believe the stigma surrounding this issue isn't spoken about enough. Many people don't feel safe venting to others about what goes through their mind. It's constantly swept under the rug and not talked about which leaves a wedge between that person and their family or friends.

Why did I choose this issue?

I chose this issue because I have a sibling who suffers first hand from a mental health issue. I know as a sister and family member that many people in my community are undiagnosed and don't take this issue serious. For a while myself didn't fully understand the depth of it until 2020 hit and I felt my own mental health decline. I've dealt with many things in my life starting from the age of six when my father passed away. From there I've endured many losses and I never received the true help I needed. During my junior year of college I had the privilege to work on this issue and present a presentation on this topic in front of 432 people via zoom. Back then I learned so much about the mental health crisis within my community as well as how bad the issue goes silenced. When someone within the family has a mental illness it's known that members of said family will say to not ask any questions about it, "It's nothin but the devil", "It's nothin but them drugs" is what you're likely to hear. Of course the person should receive prayer, but not for the reason that he is associated with the devil or some sort of evil. There is too many Black people dealing with this issue for nothing to have nothing happened yet.

Community Response:

"The mental health issue within the black community is an issue that affects me directly. As there is this certain type of stigmatism the depicts black families to not treat mental health as serious. As growing up within a black family myself I grew up being taught to suppress certain emotions such as sadness or even depression. Often time being told to go “depress them dishes” or something similar to when I was depressed in my younger years. That’s just not with me however, I know for a fact that it’s been happening for generations so over the course of time we as a community didn’t take mental health as serious as we should’ve. If we as a community began to take this issue much more serious I believe there would be a serious improvement within our community."

Elizabeth G.

"It's not taken serious by elders like parents & grand parents. Some don’t believe in mental illness so it’s often swept under the rug as something that is being made up. This means no treatment or therapy for the illness which if untreated will just continue to get worse. This affects me directly because as a Black girl my mental health was not taken seriously by my parents. I was not put in therapy at a young age as I should’ve been and now as an adult  have to go through the process by myself."

Ericka W.

"Yes it affects me directly because because mental health is what keeps the black community back. Not too many other races other than Hispanics are used to seeing their friends die, let alone just people getting shot and murdered in cold blood. A lot of different races don’t have to deal with robberies. I have to worry about walking down the street and getting killed. A lot of the races don’t have to deal with being black. In the real world your time may be cut short because you are blind or may be because of how you act  because there’s something mentally wrong or some situation you dealt with.  In order for change everybody has to take mental health serious and get therapy. Understand that what you’re going through is not your fault and it’s not your parents fault. They deal with the best they can"

Byron H.

Crisis Support

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1(800)-273-8255

Crisis Text line: Text NAMI to 741-741to receive free 24/7 support and to text with a trainer crisis counselor

Help Line for free referrals: 1(800)-950-6264

Monday-Friday, 7am-3pm (PT) 

References

Editors, Everyday Health. “Black Mental Health: Fighting Stigma and Building Trust.” Edited by Arefa Cassoobhoy, EverydayHealth.com, www.everydayhealth.com/black-health-facts/mental-health/. 

“Black and African American Communities and Mental Health.” Mental Health America, www.mhanational.org/issues/black-and-african-american-communities-and-mental-health. 

Mental health in black communities: Challenges, resources, community voices. NAMI California. (2021, June 18). Retrieved April 19, 2023, from https://namica.org/mental-health-challenges-in-african-american-communities/