Race-Related Depression Research Papers

Racism imposes additional health issues on people of color because it is an unnecessary stressor in their every day lives. “African Americans die earlier and have higher rates than whites of many chronic diseases across the social gradient” (Unnatural Causes, 2008). Increased cortisol levels, which are caused by stress have been linked to high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, and other health problems.

Terr, L. C. (1991). Childhood traumas: an outline and overview. Am J Psychiatry, 1, 48.

Research Article Childhood Trauma and Its Relation to Chronic Depression in Adulthood by the University of Kassel, Psychoanalytic Psychology,shows that childhood trauma is significantly involved in the development of depression. The aim of a study by Sigmund Freud institute, “was to examine the prevalence of retrospectively recalled childhood trauma in chronically depressed patients and to investigate a more specific vulnerability to a chronic course of depression in adulthood.” ( Freud, 2017, p. 1). There were 349 chronically depressed patients from the german lac depression study who completed the childhood trauma

This prevalence rate is considerably higher than that of the general population, therefore confirming the theory that trauma occurring in childhood has the ability to play a significant role in the development of mental illness. In addition to broad and generalized findings, they also found specific age groups to be related to specific forms of trauma in terms of what can result in the most detrimental effects. In relation to emotional abuse, it is considered most damaging at ages 6, 14, and 16. Sexual abuse is most harmful at age 12. Non-verbal abuse was found to be more detrimental at age 14 (Schalinksi, 2016). All of these findings also proved to be predictive of the development of PTSD as well as other mental illnesses, such as

In the interviews African Americans shared how on a daily basis they found themselves dealing with anxiety, fear, humiliation, shame, and stress.”(Thompson-Miller 3). Everyday with feeling all of these emotions is in no way how a life should be lived. “The ‘stress hormone’ cortisol is believed to create a domino effect that hard-wires pathways between the hippocampus and amygdala in a way that might create a vicious cycle by creating a brain that becomes predisposed to be in a constant state of fight-or-flight”.(Christopher Bergland 1). All of the other emotions combined also triggered a PTSD like syndrome called “segregation stress syndrome” .“segregation stress syndrome are similar to PTSD symptoms documented in psychiatric literature. However, “segregation stress syndrome” differs from PTSD because the traumatic experience was not a one-time occurrence; it was sustained, over time, in African American communities. In addition, the racial violence that occurred was a form of systematic chronic stress, the type that has been shown to have a detrimental impact on a person’s psychological well-being”. (Thompson-Miller

The African Americans before World War Two were not treated equal. Before the depression they more and more African Americans began to seek jobs but this lead to many problems. There were rallies against companies hiring African Americans and very prominent wage gaps. “It was exactly what the white defenders called it: a “way of life” that included elements of culture, expectations of behavior, and a political economy that mocked the ideals of a democratic republic wherever Jim Crow ruled” (Moye 15). Even though there were laws in place for less racial segregation, most people still did not like African Americans. Many still worked on farms as sharecroppers or on tenant farms. This also led them to get hit hard and be very affected by the depression.

Carter, R. T., Mazzula, S., Victoria, R., Vazquez, R., Hall, S., Smith, S., Sant-Barket, S., Forsyth, J., Bazelais, K., & Williams, B. (2013). Initial development of the Race-Based Traumatic Stress Symptom Scale: Assessing the emotional impact of racism. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, And Policy, 5(1), 1-9. doi:10.1037/a0025911

The article also points out that this cycle of abuse keeps going in some form or another. The article states, “when mothers experience physical abuse in childhood, they are more vulnerable to experiencing depressive symptoms shortly after the birth of their child, which is in turn associated with children’s development of their own difficulties with mood and affect regulation.” (2015). This serves to back up the idea of an unbreakable cycle of abuse done by the parents and so

Experiencing racial disparities can permit an increasing level of stress over the years, yet buffering mechanisms can be used to decrease the impact of adverse experiences. Based on Brody et al. (2006) study, results indicated that race-related stress from allostatic load was not significant for youth with high emotional support. Accessing emotional supportive networks of family and peers can help readjust behavior and counterbalance cognitive trajectories that reduce anxiety and stress.

Mental health issues can develop in an individual as a result of racial stereotyping. “According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Racial and ethnic minorities in the United States face a social and economic environment of inequality that includes greater exposure to racism which takes a toll on mental health”.

Countless studies have researched the connection between perceived racial discrimination and the likelihood of developing a severe mental illness. Currently, research shows that visible minorities in North America are inherently more likely to fall victim to mental health stress, which is commonly believed to be associated with their exposure to discrimination (De Maio & Kemp, 2009). In which case, allows them to be more susceptible to further mental stressors such as hate-crime victimization and a poor socioeconomic standing (Vega,

A person’s social status, education, and residency all tie into one big web. If one has a high level of education then better jobs are available, and if better jobs are available then one can afford to buy things such as a nice house and car and live in a nice neighborhood; But how does race tie into this? How does racial inequality really affect people? Many people do not believe that racism has any health concerns and although there are no circumstances where these things have caused a person serious bodily harm, these things can do more than just damage the body, but it could also damage a person's mental well-being. I believe that social status, level

Although all therapists are aware of the childhood emotional abuse issue, it is possible that only few therapists understand the scope of the issue. Emotional maltreatment is harder to detect than other forms of abuse because it is more subtle. When Child Protective Services (CPS) conduct family assessments, it is the hardest form of abuse to prove because parents are very open about the topic and emotional abuse does not leave any physical evidence behind. However, it certainly influences a child's self-esteem, promotes the feeling of guilt, insecurity, and creates the inability to form stable relationships during adulthood. Although some behavioral disorders are related to emotional abuse, it is not possible to predict it correctly

In this empirical study, Gibb and Chelminski (2007) examined childhood emotional and the diagnoses of depressive and anxiety disorders before adulthood. Gibb and Chelminski (2007) states that that people with major depression has the same stages of childhood emotional abuse as people with social phobia, but lower levels of emotional abuse than people with posttraumatic stress disorder. On the other hand, Padilla and Calvete (2014) examined whether childhood parental emotional abuse and peer emotional bullying serve as a cause of depression in adolescence. The results showed that both emotional abuse made by parents/ foster parents and predicts the worst in cognitive vulnerabilities. Padilla et al. hypothesis was supported that emotional abused

350 million people worldwide suffer from depression. Depression is the most common mental disorder among human beings. Depression is a mental illness that causes feelings despondency and dejection. It is the tenth leading cause of death in America. Sadly, some people think the illness is a myth. They believe that depression is a dramatic representation of sadness. Majority of these people are minorities. Depression in the black community has been a mystery for quite some time. This is due to many misconceptions about the illness and social status. Adults are afraid of stating they have depression for fear of being seen as weak. Children are afraid to tell their parents because of the typical response they get, “That’s that white people shit”, “stop acting like those white kids on tv” “brush it off”. Why is this the response we get from most black people? Why is it not treated like any other illness?