Hallowed Be Thy Name An Open Letter for Black Men Struggling with Depression & Anxiety in Higher Education

Did you know that nearly seven out of 10 students (69%) reported experiencing mental health issues such as stress, Anxiety, or depression? A National study done by?TimelyMD?in 2022 of nearly 1,200 college students reflects the growing concerns students are having about struggles of building a work/life balance in the halls of Academia.?

It seems that the effects of COVID-19 are only exacerbating a problem that has been 20 years in the making. Now, students say their top five stressors are their own mental health (49%), mass shootings (41%), inflation (40%), finances (40%), and academics (38%), as reported by?Timely. In addition, Anxiety is now the most common mental health concern among university students in the U.S., affecting almost 15 percent of students nationally.?

So, what do these stats have to do with you? I am glad you asked. Part of the matriculation process as a college student is shedding false narratives around what it means to become educated. Are you genuinely being educated or trained to operate in a world that doesn't exist for you? The above stats suggest that you are not alone when it comes to Anxiety, depression, stress, and other maladaptive behaviors.?

Across the board of Higher Education, all students are battling some hardship, producing diamonds of the backend. Now that you are aware of the collective agency when it comes to academic wellness (Mental Health) and how COVID-19 has placed a more excellent light on students struggling to balance life, it's up to you to not only find the help but to serve others who are working in like manner.

You will eventually encounter healing meditations (calm), journal prompts, wellness books to read, sites for finding therapists, and ways to deal with financial hardships and work/life balances. Still, the depression, Anxiety, and stress related to finals, Paying for College, raising children in Higher Education, paying rent, and working multiple jobs have more to do with life than your emotional struggles.?

One of the misnomers I struggled with in my undergraduate studies was that College was supposed to be fun, exciting, full of joy, and challenging at times but a way of escape. News Flash!!! College is not supposed to be your crutch for a better life. It can help you establish yourself professionally, build many incredible relationships, get a few internships, and learn about life.?

Did you know that "Grace Mayer wrote an article for?Business Insider?positing that "A majority of Americans now think getting a college degree isn't worth it"??A poll found that 56% of Americans say earning a four-year degree isn't worth the cost. Why would this be the case? Student Loan Debt? No Job Prospects? The advancement of A.I.? Shifting Lifestyle Dynamics?? ?

Whatever the case, it's vital to assess where you are now: the validity of your degree offerings, career prospects, work/life balance, student loans, children, and the breaking of generational curses. Congratulations if you are the first person in your family to go to College, but don't let that sentiment tie you up into a 30-year struggle with paying off your student loans. Logic over emotion must win out.??

The important thing is to never outpace the information you are taking in. College can sometimes seem like a blur and past in the blink of an eye. Nevertheless, take a hard pause if you have to and see if higher Education's billing is meeting the demands of your day. It is not an accident that the average length to get a bachelor's degree falls into the 4–6-year range.?

Many High School students never prepared or contemplated spending the next 6-8 years after High School in Higher Education, including two years of graduate studies. I was burned out in High School and only went to College to escape the fringes of poverty. After about 1-2 years, I Was trapped and felt too deep into the matriculation of Higher Education to speak up or say anything.

If you feel Trapped, Speak Up.

The world is rapidly changing, and Higher Education is no exception. Young and dumb, I forged through (Anxiety, pain, deceit, failure, sadness,?fear, disappointment, insecurity, resentment, despair, etc.) with my emotions and no logical or rational thinking in sight. The pressure was real, and "Stopping Out" was no option. The next logical step was to keep moving forward through the fire and not sidestep those necessary learning lessons.?

I get that secretly; you may feel trapped, as in?"I am too deep."?All is not lost because I was where you were but in different circumstances. In this case, I was a Senior at Kentucky State University, but I was struggling with Anxiety & depression about my future prospects, broke, homeless, with a new son, and struggling to make ends meet. I stopped out and proceeded to level up and provide my son a safe spot in the world.?

In 2024, dropping out of Higher Education is called "Stopped Out," meaning a person left school halfway or more towards graduation. This indicates that at some point in the process from that first class to graduation, changes (mind, body, spirit, financial, social, etc.) are occurring that are not commensurate with a person's spiritual progression. What I should have done when times got tough for me was to assess my spiritual progress at halftime.? ? ?

A new survey commissioned by StraighterLine and UPCEA showed that more than?50 percent of college stop-outs were?at least halfway to finishing at the time of withdrawal. At some level, many students are moving from the second quarter to the third quarter without a halftime regrouping. If we see Higher Education as a full-contact sport, halftime is necessary to finish the game (graduation).?

It's important to voice your concerns when prioritizing your mental health in relation to utilizing High Education as a stepping stone for building a successful career and future prospects. It's easy to let one's vices (sex, drugs, alcohol, video games, social media, etc.) do the talking. The longer you let the frustrations mount internally, the harder you will fall when you must go back and uncover what keeps you stuck from making concrete decisions about your future.?

I should have spoken up.

Plain and simple, you need a?"double consciousness"?of sorts to deal with the burdens of poverty, the nagging flames of racism, the ineptitude of black trades, and the sting of economic displacement. You need to look at yourself not through the eyes of economic injustice, poverty, economic destruction, police brutality, and mass incarceration but through a lens that conspires to revolutionize your mental biases and free your will to disassociate from pain, poverty, and disease.? ?

Here is the question that you need to sit with for a while.?Why didn't I tell someone I was struggling with Anxiety & Depression??Maybe you did tell someone, and the response was in the form of a band-aid. Perhaps you have sought this independent framework all of your life due to the lack of support or structural inheritance. It's the proverbial "If I want it done correctly, I will do it myself" syndrome.?

I should have spoken up to someone about my 15-year-long battle with Anxiety and depression. I let this battle go on far too long, and in the process, my health, relationships, and opportunities to expand failed, and I ended up taking a back seat to my rational thinking mind and letting my emotions lead the way, which was an absolute mistake on my part.?

Get a grip on your life, even if it means destroying relationships, being ostracized from your loved ones, and burning all bridges. In any crisis situation, you need to focus on solutions and, for the time being, throw away past mistakes and failures.?

Therapy is always a good choice, but not the one that makes you go through a box of tissues, sulking over your past missteps. If you do decide to go to therapy, be in control and guarded if you have to. It's essential to get the help necessary but not on the whims of a practitioner who wants to bill you for 10 sessions and give you assignments to do daily without any real inner reformation.??

I hope this letter grants you a stay of execution from silencing your inner frustrations. Yes, the world is rapidly changing. It's challenging us to think differently in ways that we may not have considered in the past. Where you are today will not be where you are in six months, but while in school, figure out your life, stay the course, and get a bigger perspective.?

You need to dive deep into why God chose you to attend the University you currently attend. You need to understand the importance of your major in light of technology and how you can best position yourself to support your community. All of the wisdom, knowledge, gleanings, insights, and information coming across your desk is not for you but for those you will someday impact and bless.?

If you have made it this far in the letter, know you will graduate in good standing and use these insights to help your fellow brethren. The nature of this letter is when it comes to providing economic injustice, social media, racism, mass incarceration, police brutality, lack of healthcare access, and the rising stigma surrounding mental health reverberates throughout the black community.?

Herein lies the blessings of Higher Education for you. You are not tasked with sorting out everything that has plagued your life and community in a non-emotional framework. Ultimately, it's about getting clarity on how to improve one's mental health and its impact on career outcomes.? ? ?

The Prayer of Jabez?

"Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, 'Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!' And God granted what he asked"?(1 Chronicles 4:10).

It is my prayer that God would enlarge your capacity to mindfully navigate the?Mental, Social, Emotional, Financial, Physical, & Spiritual?ramifications of Higher Education's mind-altering drug. Should you simultaneously learn outside and inside the walls of higher Education so that you are not swallowed up in the grip of complacency and fear that makes people live in higher Education beyond their time?

May you be equipped with wisdom and discernment to understand the profound impact and implications that higher learning brings to your life. Let the knowledge gained be of an academic nature and personal growth, allowing you to flourish in all aspects of your being. As you embark on this journey, may you be protected from the snares of overconfidence and the pitfalls of ignorance.?

Embrace this path with a spirit of humility and a heart open to learning, not just from textbooks and lectures but from every experience and individual you encounter. May your journey through higher Education be transformative, where you emerge with a degree and a richer, more rounded understanding of yourself and the world around you.

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