Mental Illness And The Black Community Essay

It was neither simple nor straightforward when it came to overlook those current events. When it comes to mental health problems like studies of anxiety, moods, substance abuse, and psychotic disorders (Neighbors, 1984; Williams & Earl, 2007). Which was all found inconsistent and not well understand in blacks. It’s about the different patterns in racial differences were they vary based on their particular health status. Meanwhile, to the world, they say African Americans have a disadvantage regards to mental health care. Well compared to whites it’s whether the main focus measures out on mental health symptoms, psychotic disorders, psychological distress, or psychological well-being. There is a lot of evidence in the united states on mental health status of those blacks. The fact of complexities being possibly related to those social contexts.

Racism against African Americans and other ethnicities is still prevalent in our society. Salis (2015) mentions a recent poll of Caucasian and African Americans and found that sixty percent of those surveyed felt racial relationships ha vent improved and forty percent felt they were worse. In this paper, I will identify how a counselor can reduce the effects of racism and discrimination that has affected African Americans. Additionally, I will address what role a counselor plays in reducing the stigma of mental illness within the African American community. Furthermore, I will highlight the legal and ethical issues identified in the video

The major underrepresented minority in this instance is people of color, who were shown in much higher numbers in the documentary than white inmates. An organization called Mental Health America compiled a list of statistics on African Americans, in particular, in relation to mental diseases. Unfortunately, solid statistics were difficult to obtain from self-identified African Americans because too many of them were unreachable due to homelessness or incarceration, which is very telling. The organization believes that there is no biological correlation between being black and having a mental disorder, but that stereotypes in our society and racism increase the likelihood of a black person developing a disorder. Further, only 34% stated that they

Conversations regarding mental health can often be a difficult topic to discuss openly. The Huffington Post provided readers with the opportunity to understand mental illness and intersectionality in the article, 4 Black Women Writers Get Honest About Mental Illness and Race. This article provides a different perspective on mental health as it looks at mental illness through the intersectionality of race and gender. In the article, four black women participate in an interview to discuss their experience with depression, bi-polar disorder, and ADHD and how it affects their lives as both black and woman identified beings. Discussions of mental health in the black community are rare as there is a negative view of mental illness. Hearing

This has been a struggle for the black community for the last decades as many come not wanting to talk about mental health and the diseases that people may be suffering at the time. They will rather not talk about, as they do not want to look weak in front of their peers and if they do say that they are suffering from mental health, they will be told to “man up, it’s a phase and that he’ll be fine in a few days”. This has recently changed in the last few years as both notable rappers Kendrick Lamar and Kid Cudi has publicly expressed vulnerability in their last projects. Also, Darryl McDaniels, from the legendary group, Run-DMC, who has personally battled with mental illness for a number of years, but he resisted from getting help. When asked

More often than not, these mental illnesses that college students have goes unnoticed and they suffer with their afflictions in silence. This is especially the case for African American students. In the Black community, there are certain stigmas that are attached to mental illnesses and disorders. African American students are receive high praise for making it as far as college because majority of these students are first generation, so to have a set-back as severe as being diagnosed with any mental illness is looked down upon. The African American youth has had to struggle daily to maintain structure and order because everything that they do will be scrutinized

Along with the hushed attitude towards mental illness in the African American community is the hushed attitude towards African Americans and suicide. In some cases they go hand in hand. Not only were the symptoms and signs of the mental illness overlooked or never taken into real consideration, but also the unfortunate belief that black people just don’t commit suicide sometimes ended in

Healthcare professional consistently ask why African American suffer in silence due to mental illness. Supporting statistic prove that African Americans are 20% more likely to report having serious psychological distress than non-Hispanic Whites, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Services ("Black Folks and Mental Health:Why Do We Suffer in Silence? - Wellness & Empowerment - EBONY," n.d.). As I stated in my decision question I believe this is due to the stigma associated with mental illness and the labels that are attached to mental, because no one want to be considered “crazy”. Also, the African American culture has a history of being deeply spiritual and look for “God” to fix all things

A population of client’s I hope to work with in the future is African American women suffering from depression. The depression rate among African American women is at an all time high, with low rates of treatment according to the Huffington Post, 2014. This population of women needs help and are often forgotten about. In addition to helping the population of women, I also have a goal to help bring a heightened awareness of the high percentages of depression among African American Women. Mental health is often stigmatized in the African American community.

Mental health within black culture became a passion of mine after seeing the lack of diversity within the counseling field along with the stigmatization placed on mental health. Another prominent motivator is to work within minority communities to educate the significance of having social capital and how to use that capital to gain mental health services and well-being.

Currently, racism is perpetuated in both societal attitudes and micro-aggressions rather than direct physical attacks on the body (Chakraborty, 2002). As racial tensions continue to both produce and perpetuate inequalities in both class and geography, the direct and indirect implications of those have heaver bearing of those in racial minority groups. In the 1980s, the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) study showed that African Americans were more than twice as likely than white Americans to not seek treatment for conditions out of fear of hospitalization. Reasons for this increased fear included past negative interactions with healthcare professionals along with historical mistreatment, leading to mistrust (Satcher, 2001). The impacts of historical oppressions and current negative impressions with global healthcare systems are only part of what has caused distortion in mental health outcomes between people of different ethnicities

The two articles I have chosen for this assignment both focus on the stigma about mental illness in the black community and how to overcome it. The first article I will talk about does not use the rhetorical appeals in an effective way; whereas, article ii use the rhetorical appeals more successfully in order to persuade the audience to support his viewpoint.

There is a cultural notion, that what happens inside the family, stays within the family. Comparable to the words, “Your strength will get you through it”. This belief is many times coupled with their spiritual background and belief in God. Understanding these main cultural conceptions will always help the mental health profession grasp an understanding of why this population is statistically seen as one of the most reluctant cultures to seek counseling from mental health counselors, yet will find solace in speaking with their Reverend, a pillar in the community, or (one viewed negatively) such as a gang leader, fictive kin, who is viewed as family, as their means of a counselor. Especially in black men, who are usually court ordered to

Rap is becoming increasing influential of the American society, a considerable amount of rappers are using their platform to bring light to mental illnesses within the community, donate schools and charities that will help underprivileged families, and speak out against social issues besides having an inspirational message in their songs. Kendrick Lamar sheds light on his battle with overcoming depression through his music. In his song “U” he openly describes his depression including his battle with suicidal thoughts. He says “I'm fucked up, but I'm not as fucked up as you… The world'll know money can't stop a suicidal weakness” Mental illness has always been stigmatized in Black culture because it seen a “white people” problem or that the

Mental illness is a mental or behavioral pattern that causes either suffering or an impaired ability to function in ordinary life. For the black community, this mental suffering is perceived as personal weakness and not a medical illness (Ward & Heidrich 481). Research on mental illness and black women when compared to Whites, also revealed that African-Americans “are less likely to find antidepressant medication and counseling acceptable over the use of religious coping (Ward & Heidrich 482). Along with the negative connotations the black community has about mental illness, the varying types and conditions add further confusion. Although the exact cause of most mental illnesses is not known, it is being research that many of these conditions are caused by a combination of genetics. Due to these many conditions everyone deals with mental illness