Mental Health In African American Community Essay

According to research, African Americans tend to have more shameful attitudes towards individuals with mental illness compared to European Americans (Ward et al, 2009; Poussaint & Alexander, 2000). Within African American culture, admitting one has mental illness is sometimes viewed as a personal weakness or lack of faith (Ward et al 2009; Boyd-Franklin, 2003). This perceived stigma often deters African Americans from discussing their mental health concerns with family and professionals. For Black women in particular, the issue of stereotype has been an overlapping factor affecting the use of services for mental illness. Sexual objectification can be linked to mental health problems among African American women. Objectification theory hypothesizes

According to Webster, Wellness is the state or condition of being in good physical and mental health. Although, African-American are considered to be the minority in America we are a huge fraction of the diseased American population. African Americans are 60% more likely to contract diabetes; also African Americans are more likely to suffer kidney disease, resulting from diabetes. 3 million African American’s have diabetes; the more astonish fact is that a third of the people with diabetes are oblivious to the fact they have it. African American’s develop high blood pressure earlier in life than other Americans; 45% of black women have the affliction. HIV/Aids is predominant in the African American community; in fact half of the infected population

Mental health is a state of psychological well-being. According to World Health Organization (WHO) mental health includes "subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence, intergenerational dependence, and self-actualization of one's intellectual and emotional potential, among others." (Organization, WHO 2001) However, cultural differences, race, ethnicity, personal background, subjective assessment, and socioeconomic status all affect how mental health is defined. This variation in definitions of mental health between different sects of our society further causes drift in methods of treatment, and may cause the burden of mental health to be greater on some cultures.

MENTAL HEALTH: BLACK COMMUNITY Mental Health in the Black community has rapidly grown overtime. According to the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, African Americans are 20% more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population. (Mental Health American p. 3) Mental health disorder is popular in the Black community. Which can include: depression, ADHD and PTSD, which usually stem from either a violent past or background.

The issues of mental illness have been around from the start of human existence. Mental illness is considered any psychiatric disorder that cause untypical behavior. Questioning happened more in the 1930’s when more problems came around and how to fix it began to arise. Mental illness included the diseases, the cures, One of the illnesses that was very common was Schizophrenia. This is a” long-term mental disease that affects how your brain works.

Our African American youth is suffering the most because of our race and reputation. Most of the problems happening in the black communities are caused from a white man's perception of what the world should be. Meaning, white privilege. White privilege is an excuse for

Mental illnesses have a high prevalence amongst the United States population. Each year, tens of millions of individuals suffer and are affected by mental illnesses (National Institute of Mental Health, 1). These illnesses range from anxiety disorder, eating disorders, major depression, personality disorder, and many more. Yet, with the existing knowledge, mental providers and professionals, and the DSM-5, mental illness remains a growing mystery to the public. Literature has played a significant role in how mental illnesses are defined, their characteristics, and the portrayal of those who are mentally ill to the public eye.

I have always been fascinated on different variables that affect young minorities’ emotional, mental, and physical behaviors. I came across this scholarly Journal of Black Psychology in my Psychology of the African American Experience. This field is very important to me because it speak about the community that I connect with and mention that there are different psychological theories and methods that should be used to based on minorities and not a universal

Considering mental health issues are so prominent in our day to day lives, why is it that they’re so vastly misapprehended? Mental disorders are commonly misconceived as Wyatt Fisher, a Colorado-based licensed psychologist implied in an interview with The Cheat Sheet; “People tend to view mental illness as a sign of weakness that people should just be able to ‘get over’, and many view it as a title given to those who are just ‘crazy’”. At one point mental health was a

Doctors and psychiatrists are too willing to place someone on medications for a quick fix. We are an overmedicated society looking for an easy answer for a solution to our problems. Research suggests that one in five Americans are diagnosed with a mental health disorder. I firmly believe that there is a mental health crisis in the United States and many people go undiagnosed. Mental health, does in my opinion, has stigmas attached to it.

African Americans have had a long history of oppression. They were forced to be slaved and kept under the white man’s control. They were segregated so that Blacks and Whites do not mix. Today, police brutality on the African American community led to the “Black Lives Matter” movement. The LGBTQ community has also been oppressed.

The source of the difference is no secret. African Americans have been subject to a long history of social and economic oppression and disadvantage; they have experienced higher levels of poverty and lower levels of education than white Americans. After the Brown decision in 1954, the federal government and many states adopted policies to redress the past inequities, but those systems were insufficient to overcome generations of racism, which limited access to jobs and education. Despite significant progress in expanding educational access, education attainment, and economic opportunities for black citizens in the past half century, blacks continue to agonize. African Americans face many trials such as being disproportionately poor and attending racially isolated communities, where children are likely to be exposed to violence, gangs, and drug

We should be open about mental health, so that people are able to speak up and get help, but not to the point that mental illnesses are normalized, romanticized, and trivialized. So, stop glorifying them. Stop acting like it’s a choice. Stop acting like they are entertainment. Stop using them as an adjective.

The one most important thing to know about the comparison between mental health and mental illness is that “mental illness does not discriminate; it can affect anyone regardless of your age, gender, income, social status, race/ethnicity, religion/spirituality, sexual orientation, background or other aspect of cultural identity. While mental illness can occur at any age, three-fourths of all mental illness begins by age 24” (“What is Mental Illness” 5 ). Mental illness can happen to anyone at anytime and it can take any

While the topic of mental health awareness has recently been introduced, the roots of mental illnesses run deep into history. Mental illnesses, also called mental disorders, are a wide range of conditions that affect mood, thinking, and behavior. Many people with mental illnesses are now fighting to increase awareness of disorders like depression and anxiety, and some argue that the best way to educate about mental illnesses is to teach about it in school. By educating about mental illnesses in schools, activists are hoping to increase understanding about the topic and prevent teenagers who have mental illnesses from feeling alone.