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The Psychological Effects Of Racism

Decent Essays

Death, hate, violence, abuse, and discrimination are all by products of racism. Not only does it leave a path of destruction it is also uncomfortably common. Racism is defined by prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. Such beliefs are inevitable due to human nature, the issue is the sheer magnitude of racism. Such beliefs are held across the world and it leads to civil unrest and even interpersonal conflicts. The primary effect racism has on individuals is the ability to manipulate them on a psychological level and even physiological level in extreme cases. The psychological effects of racism are often overlooked, which is unsettling because of the amount chaos it causes on the psychological level. Such chaos must be examined and studied in order to find the impact racism leaves on an individual. Impacts are often depression, anxiety, stress, neural processes, neurochemical changes, cognitive structures, and substance abuse. The list may not seem long but keep in mind that each subject listed yields it's own issues. The psychological effects of racism are vast and dismal, yet no one seems to really be informed. It’s rather ironic how vast the consequences are but no one really likes to discuss them. Regretfully topics such as mental health or psychological effects of certain events are swept under the rug. Regardless of the amount of attention it receives racism does have a

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