Social Unrest Has Greater Impact On Blacks
Black adults have been 10% to 26% more likely than white adults to report symptoms of psychological distress in a mental health survey conducted weekly since late April by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Census Bureau. In the week after Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, 40.5% of Black adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, compared with 33.1% of white people.
Yet historically, Black Americans are half as likely to receive either treatment or medication for their mental health, according to federal statistics. They are more likely to be uninsured and are often overlooked in research studies of mental health. And since only a small fraction of therapists are Black, many who are struggling emotionally may be reluctant to seek care.
Jarell Myers, a psychologist at the Center for Motivation and Change in New York, said the trauma of racism passes from one generation to the next, leading to anxiety, depression, and PTSD that frequently goes undiagnosed and untreated. “Due to historical mistreatment of Black people from the medical establishment, there is enormous mistrust toward it,” Myers said. “This results in the assumption that if you go to see a shrink, you’re crazy.”
There is an expectation given to you when you are young. You don’t have the luxury of being a kid who makes mistakes. There are always eyes watching and waiting and interjecting, and when you do falter there are heavy consequences your counterparts will not face. When you bring these to light you are penalized, ostracized, or ignored. You continue to do your best with what you have and just keep going. You want to enjoy life, but life continues to have hurdles and more hurdles and more hurdles.
Case Study: When you’re growing up, you think you will go to school, get a good job. You follow this straight line. Covid pulled that rug from underneath us and that line isn’t there. There’s a heavy burden looming over a lot of us as we look for work.
Now since the [Floyd] video, my heart just aches. Every time we see violence like this, you have this hope that this will be the last time, that this will be the last name. And then it’s not.
I cannot go march because I’m immunocompromised. But there are other avenues to be helpful, to elevate and amplify the people around you. I try to combat statements that stigmatize mental health issues in our community, and I direct people to a site called Therapy for Black Girls and the Loveland Foundation, which aims to help Black women and girls get free therapy sessions. I will most likely be seeing someone soon.
Gabrielle Glaser Gabrielle Glaser is a New Jersey-based journalist and author.
Sent from my iPhone