{"id":9182,"date":"2020-06-05T14:00:16","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T21:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.everywomanover29.com\/blog\/?p=9182"},"modified":"2020-07-11T23:31:24","modified_gmt":"2020-07-12T06:31:24","slug":"depression-anxiety-and-intergenerational-trauma-due-to-racism-in-the-black-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everywomanover29.com\/blog\/depression-anxiety-and-intergenerational-trauma-due-to-racism-in-the-black-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Depression, anxiety and intergenerational trauma due to racism in the Black community"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"anxiety<\/p>\n

I feel sickened by George Floyd\u2019s death and the police brutality we all witnessed. I stand by Black Lives Matter and an end to racism, social injustice and inequalities. In the light of current events in the USA and around the world, today\u2019s article highlights the prevalence of mental health in the Black community, the biological impacts of trauma, racism and intergenerational trauma, some reasons why mental health services are not being used, the impacts of racism on physical health and some resources geared to Black mental health.<\/p>\n

In this recent article by Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, Addressing Mental Health in the Black Community<\/a>, we learn the following:<\/p>\n

Research suggests that the adult Black community is 20% more likely to experience serious mental health problems, such as Major Depressive Disorder or Generalized Anxiety Disorder.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Black emerging adults (ages 18-25) also experience higher rates of mental health problems and lower rates of mental health service utilization compared to White emerging adults, and older Black adults.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What shocked me was reading this statistic: \u201cthe Black community comprises approximately 40% of the homeless population, 50% of the prison population, and 45% of children in the foster care system.\u201d <\/em>All of this puts the Black community is at more risk for mental health issues.<\/p>\n

The article also highlights the biological impacts of trauma\u201cthrough enslavement, oppression, colonialism, racism, and segregation\u201d <\/em>and shares that \u201cintergenerational trauma may be passed down biologically from one generation to the next.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Some of the factors that may lead to mental health services not being used amongst the Black community are lack of trust, lack of finances and fear:<\/p>\n

Lack of trust in the medical system due to historical abuses of Black people in the guise of health care, less access to adequate insurance, culturally responsive mental health providers, financial burden, and past history with discrimination in the mental health system.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I encourage you to read the entire article at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This paper, Transgenerational Consequences of Racial Discrimination for African American Health<\/a> goes further into the intergenerational effects of racism on both psychological and physical health: immune health, heart health, obesity, diabetes and so on. The paper concludes as follows:<\/p>\n

without addressing the harmful consequences of racial discrimination, improving the health of African Americans as well as other marginalized groups, will remain inadequately addressed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This inspiring quote is from Nelson Mandela from his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom<\/em>\u00a0 (1994) and no-one says it better than him. It is a message of hope!<\/p>\n

\"Nelson
from the Nelson Mandela facebook page<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here are some resources geared specifically to Black mental health<\/p>\n