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Bryndah Keith

Professor Brandon Hale

Cultural Anthropology

02 April 2018

Mental Health in Black Communities

Mental health in black communities has changed throughout the decades and

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has been shown throughout the world. Normally in any community, the first thing

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that comes to mind when you think about mental health is depression, anxiety,
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PTSD, bipolar disorder, etc. But did you know that African Americans have

limited access to health care? “Nearly 25% of African Americans are uninsured
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and are also more likely to use emergency and/or primary care specialists (Office

of the U.S. Surgeon General, 2001). However, these professionals lack training in
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the diagnosis and treatment of mental and behavioral health problems.”(American

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Psychological Association). ”Adult Black/African Americans are more likely to

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have feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and worthlessness than are adult whites.”
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(Black & African American Communities and Mental Health.) Mental health
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issues continue to rise in African American communities because of 3 reasons;

racism and stereotyping, limited access to health care and poverty. There are many

more reasons why mental health issues continue to rise in the community, however

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these are the top issues.

Racism is a huge part of why black people have mental illnesses. Racism

occurs in our everyday lives. It occurs at our jobs, when we go out shopping for

groceries, online, when we go outside just to talk a breath of fresh air, etc. Racism

is everywhere, and it affects us in more ways than you think. We lose our brothers

and sisters everyday due to gang violence, drug overdose, and a huge factor in the

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black community; police brutality. However, studies show that racism produces

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stress, depression, anxiety, PTSD and self esteem issues. According to Kathryn

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Freeman Anderson, “In a University of Arizona study on emotional and physical
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stress from perceived racism, 18.2 percent and 9.8 percent of black participants
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reported emotional and physical stress, respectively. The rates of stress were
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significantly lower among white participants, with 3.5 percent and 1.6 percent
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reporting emotional and physical stress, respectively.” The quote characterizes a

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brief meaning of African American disorders that is becoming contagious around

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the African American community. Kathryn's studies show us that racism can affect
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us because it messes with not only our emotions but our minds and bodies. Racism

starts with a term called microaggression. Microaggression is daily communication

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that escalates into an unintentional interaction that ends up being hostile. It starts

off as a normal conversation and escalates into a discriminating act, basically an

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insult. Microaggression can start off by someone simply stating, “So where are you

really from? What is your real nationality?” To some people, that is a harmless

question. However, to any person of color, it can sound like microaggression.

Stereotypes can indeed cause mental illnesses because as an African

American, we live up to stereotypes like, “We have to be strong.” or “Black people

have been through much worse, so whatever you're going through now, get over

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it.” We have such a reputation to uphold and a lot of pride so it is hard to admit that

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we have something on our minds or feelings that must be released. ““Why are you

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depressed? If our people could make it through slavery, we can make it through
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anything.” “When a black woman suffers from a mental disorder, the opinion is
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that she is weak. And weakness in black women is intolerable.” “You should take
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your troubles to Jesus, not some stranger/psychiatrist.” The truth is that getting
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help is a sign of strength. People with depression can’t just “snap out of it.” Also,
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spiritual support can be an important part of healing, but the care of a qualified
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mental health professional essential.””(Depression and African Americans)

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Poverty has significantly extinguished some of the African American

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mentality which caused some sort of disorder in some African American families.

For African Americans, living in poverty indeed causes a lot of issues in the

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household. Mostly, if you’re living in poverty in today’s society you’re most likely

not able to afford certain important things like limited healthcare or even no

healthcare. This main factor is affecting the black communities from today’s

society because the black communities develop stress disorders and also suicidal

thoughts because they feel like they’re hopeless and feel like they won’t be able to

support themselves nor their families. “About 27% of African Americans live

below the poverty level compared to about 10.8% of non Hispanic whites.

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Approximately 11% of African Americans are not covered by health insurance,

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compared with about 7% for non-Hispanic whites.”(Mental Health Disparities)

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Concluding, racism has affected the mental health of young African
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Americans. However it is not just racism, it is also health care issues and poverty.
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“The good news is that, like other illnesses such as heart disease or diabetes,
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clinical depression is treatable with the help of a healthcare professional. In fact,

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over 80 percent of people with depression can be treated successfully.” (NAMI)

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The families in African American communities experience the same poverty as

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other countries, for example: Bangaladesh, Turkey, and other south African

countries. In the society today, as things over the decades have gotten more
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expensive, it has put some African Americans into economic crisis. Which leads

them to not be able to afford great health care insurances. Overall, there has been a

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much larger success rate with the African Americans because the era that we live in

offers more opportunities via internet.

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WORKS CITED
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(n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2018, from http://www.apa.org/advocacy/civil-

rights/diversity/african-american-health.aspx
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Black & African American Communities and Mental Health. (2017, April 03).
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Retrieved April 15, 2018, from

http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/african-american-mental-health

Depression And African Americans. (2016, July 13). Retrieved April 15, 2018,
from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/depression-and-

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african-americans

A. (2017). Mental Health Disparities: African Americans. Retrieved 2017, from

file:///C:/Users/Princess/Downloads/Mental-Health-Facts-for-African-
Americans (1).pdf

NAMI. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2018, from https://www.nami.org/find-

support/diverse-communities/african-americans

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