5 Factors That Affect Mental Health in African American Communities

by Tanya St. John

Mental illness does not discriminate. One in four Americans will experience a behavioral health disorder in any given year regardless of age, race, religion, gender or economic status. Anyone can develop a mental health disorder.

However, there are factors that can increase the vulnerability to and severity of mental health disorders in the African American population and decrease their likelihood of seeking and receiving adequate treatment, including:

1. RACISM

Mental Health America points out that, “Despite progress made over the years, racism continues to have an impact on the mental health of Black/African Americans. Negative stereotypes and attitudes of rejection have decreased, but continue to occur with measurable, adverse consequences. 

Historical and contemporary instances of negative treatment have led to a mistrust of authorities, many of whom are not seen as having the best interests of Black/African Americans in mind.”

Evidence of the historic context that contributes to mistrust within the African American community can be seen in the pseudoscience of “diseases” such as Drapetomia and Dysaethesia Aethiopica, created to maintain the status quo of slavery in the South.

During slavery, an overt display of mental illness often resulted in more frequent beatings and abuse, which forced slaves to disguise or hide their mental health issues (Hastings, Jones, & Martin, 2015). 

The outcomes of these events have been long-lasting, perpetuating myths about mental illness. Sixty-three percent of African Americans believe that depression is a personal weakness. Family and community members often insist on prayer as a singular solution over seeking professional treatment:

“Why are you depressed? If our people could make it through slavery, we can make it through anything.” “When a black woman suffers from a mental disorder, the opinion is that she is weak. And weakness in black women is intolerable.” “You should take your troubles to Jesus, not some stranger/ psychiatrist.”
(Depression and African Americans, Mental Health America)

In more recent history, the CDC details the Tuskeegee Syphilis Experiment which did not inform its subjects, 600 black men, of the study’s true purpose, and did not provide proper treatment, among other failures. 

Further support for this barrier of mistrust is explained in Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Man’s Disease, (Beacon Press 2010), by author and Vanderbilt University Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry, Jonathan Metzl. 

Metzl researched Michigan’s Iona State Hospital records and uncovered a disproportionate diagnosis of schizophrenia in African American men during the 1960’s and 70’s, speculating that the much of the misplaced hysteria was attributable to involvement of African American males involvement in the civil rights movements of the time.

2. RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

Some African Americans even see mental illness as a punishment from God. Up to 85 percent of African Americans describe themselves as “fairly religious” or “religious” and they commonly use prayer as a way to handle stress, according to one study cited by the American Psychiatric Association. 

Spiritual beliefs, family, and community are a great source of emotional support, but can be a barrier to receiving needed professional medical or therapeutic treatment. Faith communities can become a source of distress if they are not educated about mental illness and ways to support individuals and families in their struggle for recovery.

3. POVERTY

While mental illness is not by any means restricted to individuals of lower economic status, the stressors that can accompany poverty – hunger, homelessness, lack of other basic needs or an inability to find jobs or afford treatment – can be contributing factors. U.S. Census Bureau data shows the 2014 poverty rate for African Americans was 26.2 percent. 

According to the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research, “it is well documented that mental illness is exacerbated by poverty. However, more recently, it has been recognized that poverty may contribute to the onset of mental illness.” 

In a continuing downward spiral, mental illness can increase health care costs, effect overall health, and lead to further impoverishment. African Americans make up 40 percent of today’s homeless population.

4. VIOLENCE

African Americans of all ages are more likely to witness or be victims of serious violent crimes. Exposure to violence increases the risk of developing a mental health condition such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. African American children are more likely than other children to be exposed to violence, which can have a profound, long-term effect on their mental health.

5. LACK OF PROVIDER CULTURAL COMPETENCY

A lack of cultural competency in the mental health care system can also pose barriers to seeking professional help. Only 3.7 percent of American Psychiatric Association members and 1.5 percent of American Psychological Association members are African American. According to Psychology Today, “studies have shown that African Americans view the typical psychologist as an ‘older, white male, who would be insensitive to the social and economic realities of their lives.'”

Without proper treatment, mental health conditions can worsen and make day-to-day life harder. Silence and stoicism – denying oneself help in order to appear strong – need to be overcome. True strength lies in recognizing the need for help and seeking it out. To make progress in this arena, there needs to be:

*An end to the stigma by increasing awareness of mental health needs in the African American community

*An increase in the number of African American mental health professionals and greater cultural competency in those currently in the field

*Increased education in the faith communities about the role of professional mental health treatments and how they can work together

*A greater focus on prevention, intervention, and maintenance

Breaking the Black Emotional Dysfunctional Code

 by Kenny Anderson

I often hear young adult Blacks say use the terms that they’re ‘hyped-up’, ‘amped-up’, ‘geeked-up’, their use of these terms generally refers to them being excited, provoked, or stimulated by drugs or alcohol.

Unbeknownst to young adult Blacks and to the overwhelming majority of us the terms ‘hyped-up’, ‘amped-up’, ‘geeked-up’ can also be used as psychological 'clinical' terms that describe historical ‘hyper-arousal’ symptoms of Post-Traumatic Slavery Disorder (Cultural-Specific PTSD).

Hyper-arousal is a primary symptom of general Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that occurs when a person’s body suddenly kicks into high alert as a result of thinking about their trauma. Even though real danger may not be present, their body acts as if it is causing lasting stress after a traumatic event.

The relentless brutal enslavement and traumatization of our Ancestors, this intense chronic stress environment negatively altered their genes ‘epigenetically’ amplifying their temperaments and nervous system producing a temperamental predisposition to hyper-arousal passed down to us genetically.

Behaviorally this hyper-arousal causes hyper-sensitivity ‘emotional over-sensitivity’ and ‘emotional agitation’ (irritability). Moreover hyper-arousal increases a state of being emotionally ‘hyper-vigilant’ causing over-sensitivity to your surroundings, being 'over-alert' to hidden dangers from others even when real danger does not exist; hyper-vigilance increases pre-emptive strike violence, distrust, and alienation.

Emotional irritability is a personality dimension characterized by a tendency to be thin-skinned, moody, easily annoyed, defensive, dissatisfied, frustrated, angry, and reactive to pettiness, slight provocations, and disagreements.

When you combine hyper-arousal emotional irritability with unrealistic expectations, negative self-fulfilling prophecies, and Black self-hate you get failed or dysfunctional relationships, Black-on-Black violence, intra-organization divisiveness, and overall disunity.

This unaddressed self-sabotaging hyper-arousal is expressed by Black folks all the time, you know we say towards so many of us individually “if it aint one thing with you it's another” and “I can’t stand you – you get on my last nerves,” and we say collectively about us “Black folks just can’t get along with each other, we aint gonna never stick together!” “You know when a lot of Blacks folks come together something bad is going to happen.”

The great Black revolutionary psychiatrist Frantz Fanon remarked that racially “colonized people suffer many psychological wounds which are horribly afflicting, and there is no reason to believe that such illnesses will ever completely resolve; thus the patients’ lives will always be ‘compromised’.”

Indeed, white supremacy has genetically imprinted us with hyper-arousal; severely left us emotionally compromised ‘over-sensitive’ and ‘emotional agitated’ that undermines our ability to get along with each other on a basic level.

As Black folks we must deepen our understanding ‘emotional intelligence’ of the impact of historical racist forces on our emotional lives that negatively impacts our well-being, our families, our relationships, our organizations, and our communities by practicing emotional mindfulness. Indeed as Black folks we must emotionally uncompromise ourselves!

Breaking the Black Emotional Dysfunctional Code (BEDC)

Breaking the Black Emotional Dysfunctional Code healing method works by figuring out and detecting your specific negative emotions ‘codes’ that are energy ‘chords’ that binds us back ‘originally’ to our enslaved foremothers’ womb ‘emotional distress fetal programming’.

During pregnancy our enslaved foremothers were gripped by the emotional distress of extreme homesickness (anxiety trauma) ‘forcibly stripped from Africa’ and heartbrokenness (depression) of ‘children stripped from them and sold’. These original distressed maternal emotions are genetically embedded in our subconscious.

These inherited dysfunctional trapped emotions are the basis of ‘Post Slavery Emotional Distress Disorder’ (PSEDD) that causes pain, self-sabotage, emotional problems, and all kinds of malfunction and disease - such as physical pain, anger, depression, fatigue, chronic stress, PTSD, phobias, panic attacks along with relationship problems (conflicts, violence, divorce, etc.).

As Black folks these trapped emotions are negative emotional energies that we still carry around ‘DNA’ from slavery; past events, traumas, abuse, and current emotional distress. Trapped emotions can contribute significantly to physical health problems ‘chronic diseases’ like hypertension, heart disease, and stroke;

Without awareness of these disturbing and disrupting negative trapped emotions there is a ‘fatalistic tendency' amongst Black folks to view them religiously as a ‘curse from God’, or ‘it is what is’ – apathetically aint nothing you can do about it.

As mentioned these negative emotions are trapped in the subconscious that retains everything emotionally about you: your Ancestral emotions and your emotional experiences that unconsciously ‘drives’ influences your specific situational feeling ‘reactions’. Indeed negative trapped emotions can exert a dramatic effect on how you think, the choices that you make, and how you react to everyday life challenges.

Again the accumulation of Black emotional distress begins in our genetic emotional predisposition, emotional state of our mothers during pregnancy; the emotional quality of family and community relationships; the emotional quality of significant relationships throughout our lives.

Consider thinking of trapped emotions as blocks of energy that can be ‘stuck’ barriers in the body; that these stubborn emotional traits block positive emotions from arising. Unblocking trapped negative emotions should be identified individually and released one at a time, not in groups or bundles.

Breaking the Black Emotional Dysfunctional Code is an ongoing practice of deep reflective and analytical review ‘unblocking process’ to identify, to understand, and to release trapped negative emotions for the goal of ‘emotional management’ and transformation ‘emotional emancipation’.

Poverty Goes Straight to the Brain

By Brandon Keim

Growing up poor isn’t merely hard on Black kids, it might also be bad for their brains. A long-term study of cognitive development in lower- and middle-class students found strong links between childhood poverty, physiological stress and adult memory.

The findings support a neurobiological hypothesis for why impoverished children consistently fare worse than their middle-class counterparts in school, and eventually in life, particularly African - American children 
"Chronically elevated physiological stress is a plausible model for how poverty could get into the brain and eventually interfere with achievement," wrote Cornell University child-development researchers Gary Evans and Michelle Schamberg in a paper published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

For decades, education researchers have documented the disproportionately low academic performance of poor children and teenagers living in poverty. Called the achievement gap, its proposed sociological explanations are many.

Compared to well-off kids, poor children tend to go to ill-equipped and ill-taught schools, have fewer educational resources at home, eat low-nutrition food, and have less access to health care.

At the same time, scientists have studied the cognitive abilities of poor children, and the neurobiological effects of stress on laboratory animals. They’ve found that, on average, socioeconomic status predicts a battery of key mental abilities, with deficits showing up in kindergarten and continuing through middle school.

Scientists also found that hormones produced in response to stress literally wear down the brains of animals. Evans and Schamberg’s findings pull the pieces of the puzzle together, and the implications are disturbing. Sociological explanations for the achievement gap are likely correct, but they may be incomplete.

In addition to poverty’s many social obstacles, it may pose a biological obstacle, too. "A plausible contributor to the income-achievement gap is working-memory impairment in lower-income adults caused by stress-related damage to the brain during childhood," they wrote.

To test their hypothesis, Evans and Schamberg analyzed the results of their earlier, long-term study of stress in 195 poor and middle-class Caucasian students, half male and half female. In that study, which found a direct link between poverty and stress, students’ blood pressure and stress hormones were measured at 9 and 13 years old. At 17, their memory was tested.

Given a sequence of items to remember‚ teenagers who grew up in poverty remembered an average of 8.5 items. Those who were well-off during childhood remembered an average of 9.44 items. So-called working memory is considered a reliable indicator of reading, language and problem-solving ability — capacities critical for adult success.

When Evans and Schamberg controlled for birth weight, maternal education, parental marital status and parenting styles, the effect remained. When they mathematically adjusted for youthful stress levels, the difference disappeared.

In lab animals, stress hormones and high blood pressure are associated with reduced cell connectivity and smaller volumes in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. It’s in these brain regions that working memory is centered. Evans and Schamberg didn’t scan their human subjects’ brains, but the test results suggest that the same basic mechanisms operate in kids.

"Brain structures change with stress and are affected by early-life stress in animal models," said Rockefeller University neuro - endocrinologist Bruce McEwen. "Now there are beginnings of work on our own species. The Evans paper is an important step in that direction."

McEwen also noted that, at least in animals, the effects of stress produce changes in genes that are then passed from parent to child. Poverty’s effects could be hereditary.

The findings, though compelling, still need to be replicated and refined. "They’re not really saying which causal events were stressful. They’re just measuring biological markers of stress," said Kim Noble, a Columbia University psycho-biologist who studies the relationship between child poverty and cognition.

Other mental consequences of poverty also need to be measured. "I think that different cognitive outcomes have different causes," said Noble. "Something like working memory might be more associated with stress, whereas language might be associated with hours spent reading to your children."

But Noble still said the study "was very well-done. They have an impressive data set." And though some details remain incomplete, she said, evidence of connections between poverty and neurobiology are strong enough to justify real-world testing.

"Policy changes that affect environments that might affect cognitive development and brain change, that’s the ultimate future of the field," she said.