Post Traumatic Slave Disorder, And The Elephant

During the mid-1800s, it was challenging being a slave. Belonging to another human being instead of being free brought numerous hardships African Americans had to endure. It brought about unimaginable pain, frustration, disruption, and stress. In America, slavery was glorified, even though, families were separated and destroyed. Slavery made it tedious to have stability in families because of the effects it had on the African American people. After reading “How Affected African American Families” and “Narrative of Jenny Proctor,” slavery caused African American families to cope with separation, unfair marriage stipulations, horrible living condition, mistreatment and labor, and also the ending of slavery.

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)", Retrieved May 27, 2013, from the WebMD Website: HYPERLINK "http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd" http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd

Dr. Kimberlyn Leary writes about the application of treatment methodologies specific to the treatment African Americans but to make this suggestion is contrary to purpose of this paper. I assert that the creation of specific therapeutic methods for Black people and people of color would only deepen the chasm between black and white. What I am saying here is that there is a way to apply the existing psychoanalytic theories to Black people and most all of these theories address many of the issues of the

Young Indigenous children from all over Canada were snatched from their homes, taken from their families, and placed in residential schools that would ruin these children and bring out the feeling of pain that would last their entire life. In Richard Wagamese novel Indian horse, Saul Indian Horse, one of the many victims of the sixties scoop was taken as a young boy, where he was abused mentally, physically and emotionally at St. Jerome's residential school. This school would inflict pain that would last forever and has a terrible aftermath on his life that puts him in a long and difficult healing process he endured to turn his life around from the distractions he used to hide from the pain. Richard Wagamese tells the story of Indian Horse through the eyes of Saul Indian Horse to demonstrate the feelings he endures during the story for the readers better understanding of the character.

Most of the discussion dealt with historical overview on slavery and how it pertained to today’s society. The audience was reminded early on in the discussion that race does exist in its consequences and that we must not overlook those consequences. The speaker at this portion of the discussion was a woman who seemed extremely fond of her topic. Her gestures and speech inflections were much exaggerated to the point where it almost drew attention away from her topic. It was just ironic to me how a Caucasian woman could speak with such “emotion” when she was never herself enslaved!

A significant investigation into the field of trauma is whether those affected experience and responds to trauma in ways as other diverse groups of individuals. Biological, psychological or sociocultural factors are causes in the differences in the response to trauma, and are additional shields against the development of PTSD (Ruglass, & Tackett, 2016). It has often been realized that there are limitations when grouping individuals according to race, ethnicity or culture. When referring to race, biological or physical characteristics are used to classify groups of people based on (e.g. Caucasian or African American, etc.). Identifying one with a particular group based on culture and heritage corresponds to their ethnicity. Racial or ethnicity minority group members typically experience a significant amount of racism, prejudice and discrimination, due to their minority status. Although racial and ethnic minority groups comprise about thirty seven percent of the United States citizens, Ruglass & Tackett (2016) assert that there is little research in trauma on these

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a well known disorder that takes over the life of it’s victim. We know that anyone has the chance of facing this challenging disorder but does race/ culture have anything to do with it? Throughout this paper we will be trying to answer this question and many more. This paper’s main focus is on what post-traumatic stress disorder is, what evidence provided by researchers leads us to believe that race and ethnicity has something to do with PTSD rates and last but not least the few ways on how to treat PTSD patients properly.

The thought of feeling embarrassed or having one’s pride get in the way can prevent a lot. One of the greatest barriers keeping people of color from asking or getting treatment for depression is the thought of being looked down on and not trusting health institutions. There is a history of trauma and victimization experienced by people of color. Experiments have been done to prove these negative attitudes many black people have about health care. Experiments such as the Tuskegee syphilis experiment have caused a cultural mistrust for people of color toward the U.S. healthcare system. The Tuskegee syphilis experiment was a study done between 1932 and 1972 by the U.S. Public Health Service studying the natural progression of untreated syphilis in African-American men under the facade of receiving free health care from the United States government. Such things done to people of color in the past hinder them in present times to seek for

Everybody heard the saying: “stay out of grown folks business” but, what if you were finally grown enough to join the conversation. While getting into a deep conversation with an old friend about your goods and your bads. You are told by the expert that mental illness for Caucasian people is schizophrenia and mental illness for African American people is Bipolarism. This shocks you because you never heard of this before. Then everything starts to make sense why in particular some of us act, talk, think the way we do. Is the problems in the foods we eat? The drinks we drink? What we watch? Or is it society’s fault we chose to act the way we do? I would say Yes, because in history a man named Willie Lynch taught the way an African American man and woman are supposed to act in society as a piece of property for their owner. Not knowing we pick up some of these behaviors of Post Traumatic Slave syndrome. Are we sick and are we getting help for it? The answer is No, we are not getting help for our mental problems since we sometimes don’t know it exist. “Bipolar disorder affects approximately 5.7 million adult Americans, or about 2.6% of the U.S. population age 18 and older every year” (National Institute of Mental Health). Some of us need real help but don’t know who to go to for help. You might be feeling out of place, insane, irritable, euphoric, and talkative at the same time. When an individual has been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder they should follow the doctor’s orders

Though it has been apparent that people of color have been treated as a subclass within the medical field for centuries; as was brought to light in The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the recognition of forced hysterectomies and sterilizations of African American women in the 20th century and, to “The Negro Project” which worked to reduce the African American population through eugenics (Feagin & Bennefield, 2014). With even these three examples it is clear that the medical field has played a large role in creating both psychological and physical disadvantages and trauma for minority groups in America. Yet, it seems to be a subject that many professionals refuse to address. A meta-analysis conducted by Mayberry, Mili and Ofili found that,

The atrocities of slavery know no bounds. Its devices leave lives ruined families pulled apart and countless people dead. Yet many looked away or accepted it as a necessary part of society, even claiming it was beneficial to all. The only way this logic works is if the slaves are seen as less than human, people who cannot be trusted to take care of themselves. In Toni Morrison’s Beloved the consequences of a lifetime of slavery are examined. Paul D and seethe, two former slaves have experienced the worst slavery has to offer. Under their original master, Mr. Garner the slaves were treated like humans. They were encouraged to think for themselves and make their own decisions. However, upon the death of Mr. Garner all of that changes. Under

African Americans living in urban, low-income, impoverished environments are at high risk for exposure to traumatic events, and have a potential prevalence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to previous and repeated trauma exposure.

Intergenerational trauma, or historical trauma, is “the cumulative psychological damage that specific groups of people suffer throughout multiple generations” (Hanser & Gomila, 2015). African Americans, as well as Native Americans, are one of the groups said to suffer from the most historical trauma in the United States, most of it stemming from centuries of slavery and subjugation. This paper seeks to show how slavery has continued to affect black people in the United States, starting with slavery and ending with the present. This paper will look at issues that seem to plague the black community in particular, including higher rates of both incarceration and poverty, as well as continued stereotypical and racial profiling, in an attempt

In the book, Beloved, the author, Toni Morrison, writes about the memories of the past effecting the present. The masters of the slaves thought for the slaves and told them who to be. The slaves were treated like animals which resulted in an animal-like actions. Furthermore, the shaping of the slaves,by the masters, caused a psychological war within themselves during their transition into freedom. The beginning sections display how savage and lost a person can become due to the loss of their identity early on in their lives as slaves.

Despite enduring different struggles, men and women suffered from a similar mental state. In Beloved, we see the mental toll of slavery in Sethe and Paul D. During their times as slaves they were subject to brutal treatment by slave masters. They were constantly beaten and tortured with a multitude of gruesome tools. The abuse that they endured forced Paul D to “shut down a generous portion of his head, operating on the part that helped him walk, eat, sleep, sing”(49). Sethe also suffered mentally from the maltreatment of plantation owners. As a result of her years at Sweet Home, “her brain was not interested in the future. Loaded with the past and hungry for more, it left her no room to imagine, let alone plan for, the next day” (83). Sethe could not let go of the past due to the traumatic