Picture this: It’s high school USA. There’s a young girl that isn’t very sociable. There’s another girl at school that continues to pick on her. She does this by starting rumors about her and drawing attention to her obvious insecurities. The quiet girl was raised to not fight so confronting the bully was not an option. She also felt that going to an adult at school or telling her parents would make things worse, so she keeps it to herself. She felt it was something she could handle. Everyone gets picked on at some point in time.
Though, one day the teasing became too much for her. She didn’t react as she normally would. No tears and of course she didn’t fight back. Something was different. She started to have shortness of breath. As she fought to catch more air, the room began to spin. This scared her enough that she told her parent what happened, but not the reason why. Her parents took her to the hospital. It was when the doctor gave what she had experienced a name. She suffered from an anxiety attack. The doctor prescribed her with medication, but her parents didn’t approve. “ It’s just the devil trying to take over you ” ,”We gotta pray that demon off you” , “you not about to get on any crazy people medicine,” those were all the things that they said to her that day. She left with no medication nor an appropriate way to cope. Fast forward to a couple years later, she’s just now becoming an adult in the world. She does well academically, but struggles socially and emotionally. She hardly speaks about her anxiety , not because she’s ashamed but because she doesn’t know how to speak about it. she barely understands what it really means. She wonders , “ does this mean I’m crazy?” And her years of being bullied makes her weary of speaking to others about much of anything for fear of being mocked .
In the Black community, mental health is hardly talked about, which is interesting being that studies show that African Americans are more likely to suffer from psychological trauma than Whites. Blacks have a devastating rate of suicide and mental illness. You notice often that in an African American family, there is almost always that one relative that they don’t usually let out the house. The family never explains what is wrong with that relative , but they make sure keep them hidden in hopes that they do not cause a scene or “make a big fuss”. It becomes normal to keep the relative that is considered “crazy” locked up somewhere in the house.
Being a black person raised in the church, I can tell you that mental illness is not spoken about and is in some sort looked down upon. Many might say it’s “just a demon” and someth8ing that can just be prayed off of a person. All of that prayer feels like it helped , but then later on down the line all of those symptoms come back and you’re back at point one. Lack pant
When a black person suffers from a mental illness, they choose not to get help because they feel they don’t want anyone to be in their business. Most feel that if they conceal their need for assistance, it will go away. Speaking as a person who has had family members with different mental issues I know for a fact that the Black community as a whole needs to talk more about what goes on in their families so that something can be done about it before it comes to a head.
Historically, African Americans have normalized our own suffering. During slavery, mental illness often resulted in a more inhumane lifestyle including frequent beatings and abuse, which forced many slaves to hide their issues. Over time, strength became equated with survival and weakness (including mental illness) meant you might not survive.
At the end of the day, we need to normalize seeking treatment for mental illnesses. It is necessary to find out what is wrong with you and immediately begin to cope correctly. Never suffer in silence. Mental health is just as important as physical health, just like you get a yearly physical exam, it’s important to get your mind examined by speaking with a therapist.
There are many people willing to help you with your issues. If you want to talk to a person for counseling, you can call the HOPE LINE at 1-877-235-4525.