Black men who experience feelings of anxiety or depression are about half as likely to seek care or counseling compared to their white peers. Why is that? What stigmas are in the Black community regarding mental health?
Even before European colonization, Black men were looked at as strong and fierce people.
But, during slavery, how could one think a slave did not need therapy after having their loved one sold or after being taken away from his home? Black men often had to watch their wives being raped and molested by plantation owners.
Untreated mental abuse gets passed down to the next generation. Hundreds and hundreds of years of trauma and no treatment? I could see how Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome could affect upcoming generations. PTSS is a theory developed by Dr. Joy Degruy, a social worker researcher.
We all know someone who is in therapy, right?
But in the Black community mental health support is looked down upon. We do not talk much about our mental health issues. I don’t think it has to do with people hating one another for getting help. I think it is due to us being scared.
We are scared to admit “I need help.” But it is not our fault. It’s about what we were taught as kids. What is ingrained in us has been passed down from one generation to the next. I believe this stems from slavery and the continuance of Black people feeling let down by the government.
It could be the lack of trust within Black communities when it comes to public health.
In 1932, the United States Public Health Service worked with the Tuskegee Institute to study and record the natural history of syphilis. At the time, the experiment was called “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male,” known today as the “USPHS Syphilis Study at Tuskegee.” The experimental study consisted of 600 Black men – 399 with syphilis and 201 without.
I understand why people of color choose not to seek therapy. Are they really being helped? I’m convinced that a lot of black people do not trust the public health system. When COVID-19 hit, many people of color were opposed to getting the COVID-19 shot.
From my experience growing up in a black home, we were always taught we could not show weakness and that we must always be strong. Talking about your feelings was taboo in our home.
As a young Black male, I was always told men do not cry and that crying is weak and soft. I believed that for a long time.
I did not want to be weak, so I tried my best to hide my feelings as a child. I did an excellent job at not talking about my pain and instead kept it bottled up inside.
That just made things worse for me mentally. What is the point in getting a diagnostic check for your vehicle if you are not going to fix the issues that come up?
I had to get older to understand that I was taught wrong. I was lacking in the emotional department and did not know how to be okay with crying in general. I needed help expressing myself after burying my feelings for so long. I knew I needed help when I started to tell my son that crying makes him weak. I was starting to sound like my foster mother. I knew I wanted to break the cycle so I chose to go to therapy.
The more we face these uncomfortable conversations, the more the world will improve. The moment we get to a place where understanding is more important than who is right or wrong, we will begin to see change. But we all must do our part by supporting those in need of help. That help can only benefit you and the people around you. I wish I had been open to getting help mentally years ago. But no matter how long it takes, getting it is crucial.
