Black American Taboo

Statistics state that mental illness is estimated to be higher in blacks than in whites. One of the contributing factors to why blacks aren’t being cared for when they have a mental illness is because of the stigma that mental illness doesn’t exist within the community. According to Plowden (2006), “ African American men often differ in their presentation of depression and are often misdiagnosed. African American men are at greater risk for depression, but they are less likely to participate in mental health care.” This is due to the

One social limitation for the African American was the Black Code. The Black Codes were designed restrict civil rights for African Americans and to make them work in a labour based economy on low wages or debts. They sustained social hierarchy from before the civil war. The codes made it illegal for African Americans to carry weapons or vote. They could not serve on juries, testify in court against, marry white citizens, or travel without permits.

I do think that there is stigma and prejudice among African American culture than among white cultures toward mental health issues which makes it hard for practitioner to diagnose them with Depression. Even after diagnosing these African Americans women, it is difficult for them to accept their diagnosis and seek treatment. They also do not like to see therapist for their

As Americans it becomes natural to undermine those with a mental illness. As a fact, many adults and children deal with mental illness each and everyday. There are many stories that have been told to Americans about depression, anxiety, along with bipolar disorders, with the outcome usually being a negative consequence. For the 1 in every 5 citizens that deal with a mental illness each year. Americans have neglected the fact that many adults and children deal with mental issue(s), the citizens that refrain from getting help; their well being can suffer detrimental effects, there is not a lot of awareness either taught in school, or in public perspectives, American’s stigma has perfected their

The Unites States is a true melting pot of ethnicities and cultures. For many members of minority groups a certain hybridity is readily adopted, but for others, cultural assimilation can be quite difficult. Chicana author, Sandra Cisneros described this phenomenon as “always straddling two countries… but not belonging to either culture” (Doyle. 54). African American author, Alice Walker shared Cisneros’ sentiment, but focused her attention on the assimilation of black cultures and subcultures within the United States. Cisneros and Walker make the same poignant statement about the strains of cultural assimilation, with reconciliation of split identities as the goal, in their respective works, 1991’s “Woman Hollering Creek,” and 1973’s “Everyday Use,” yet their unique ethnic perspectives allow them to make it in surprisingly different ways.

Many schools of the modern world goes off the notions and claims of the predominantly white continent of Europe. The Europeans at the time of exploring the Continent of Africa viewed Africans as lesser entities and uncivilized because of there major differences in appearance, culture, and language. This notion of black, from Africa, as being uncivilized made a widely assumption of their intelluctual capacity and advancement. It was not until recent in history that people has went to Africa to study the ancient artifacts and desifer their way of life and the complex cultural system of different aspects of Africa such as the many branches of the Bantus, and their hierchial system. So after Homer, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, the European world

Mental illness is an increasing problem in America. Currently about 26.2% of Americans suffer from a mental disorder. A mental illness/disorder is a medical condition that disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, and ability to relate to others and daily functions. Mental illness can affect humans of any age, race, gender and socioeconomic status. However the care that is needed to effectively cure and help the people affected by the illness is not equal for everyone here in American, especially for African Americans.

When experiencing a mental illness, African Americans face obstacles “related to understanding the problem or situation and limitation in awareness of possible solutions, strategies remedies and resources” (Hines-Martin, Malone, Kim, & Brown-Piper, 2003). In a study by Hines-Martin (2003), participants verbalized that they did not think they were “crazy” and therefore did not need mental health services. In this instance participants showed a lack of knowledge about what mental health illness looks like. They identified mental illness as dichotomous states (Hines-Martin et al., 2003). A study by Mental Health America found similar results. In this study, a majority of African Americans surveyed believed that depression was a “health problem” and in some cases “normal” (MHA, 2012). Talking about mental illness is taboo for African Americans, and as a result they possess little knowledge about specific mental health problems or available treatments (Alvidrez et al., 2008). For African Americans, stigma serves as an impediment to problem recognition. Because they have a misconstrued idea of what mental illness is, they are less likely to contemplate that they have such problems. Alvidrez (2008) found that stigma prevented 65% of their survey respondents from contemplating that they had such problems. Because many African Americans are uninformed about what mental illness is and how it

Per Vaterlaus, Skogrand, & Chaney (2015) studies have shown that African Americans reaching out for mental health services are perceived to be powerless or weak, and are often humiliated and feel embarrassed. In a study performed by (Ward, Wiltshire, Detry & Brown (2013) African Americans were found to be hesitant to confess any mental health problems and were more likely to cope using religious practices. In my opinion, African Americans are connected to

Many cultural beliefs and values are held about mental illness and health in Americans of

My family cultural, religious/spiritual norm on mental health is that one part of my family takes mental health as a serious issue, while my other side of the family view people who has mental illness to be consider weak. It is seen to be shameful to have mental illness because in my family culture, you need to be seen as a strong person in society and to not show concerns or to have any negative thoughts/emotions. My family cultural norm impacted my view of mental health stating that mental health is a very important issue for the well being of individuals because I have seen family members and friends suffer from mental illness. There are cultural, religious/spiritual practice that my family used to treat mental health issues. My family

Addressing the extent of formal health care and use of medicines among African immigrants requires careful attention to cultural attitudes and perceptions that influence health care-seeking behaviors. There is tendency for culture and certain traditions to affect people’s perspective about prescription medications. I am writing about cultural clash with modern medicine. There are a lot of cultural barriers that could affect medication adherence especially for African immigrants. The reason I selected this topic is that I can relate to it very well. Also, I am going to be serving in a community where there are a lot of Africans and people migrating from Africa.

When beginning work with the client, there were a number of apparent differences between her and myself, including age, race, and social class. As previously stated I had to become more culturally competent about working with African American clients before I started seeing the client. Furthermore, I had to become aware of the difficulties that would be present due to our age difference. I made sure to give Betty the opportunity to tell me how situations made her feel, and empathized with her, making sure to help her feel as though I understood even though I was much younger and had not experienced what she had. Additionally, the client and I come from different social classes. I had to make certain that she did not feel judged during our sessions, and provided her with the resources necessary to assist her in overcoming barriers. Sands and Gellis (2011) indicate that African American cultural values and norms derive from a number of situations, which include responses and adaptations to the oppression, poverty, and racism, which made them victims. Knowing and understanding the various differences that I would face working with the client helped to better prepare me for sessions.

The Netherlands has a culture that is different from any other country in the world. But, with their unique culture, they have more things in common with us than we think. The culture of the Netherlands is influenced by many things. Some of these things are the surrounding countries, its population, the native population, and many other things. The three vocabulary words in this essay are taboo, custom, and popular culture.

In addition depression is an illness that it’s hard to deal with. In a study it shows eating disorder are common in women who had sexually abuse experience in the past. The reason why these women have an eating disorder is because of the guilt and shame because of sexual abuse. Just like the abusers depression can target any one doesn’t matter of race, religion, or where he/ she come from depression is a serious problem to any one. depression is common thing due to sexual abuse and not even know it.