Feb. 15, 2022 Blog

Celebrating Black History Month

February 15, 2022

Celebrating Black History Month


The Black history theme this year is health and wellness. Mental health and wellness are the focus of this blog. Suicide in the African American community is a silent killer. People in our community shy away from talking about depression and other mental health matters because of shame and the fear of appearing weak.  We learn early in our lives to hold it together at all costs. We wear the mask.


My grandmother and neighbors would share that they had the blues and that they were going to take it to the Lord in prayer. The business that many of us are holding within, is contributing to depression and other mental illnesses. Know that mental distress can be a disease that requires treatment just as any other health issue. 


In the recent weeks of 2022, we have already heard of several prominent young African Americans who died by suicide. They presented as having it all together. Family and friends are left wondering if they missed a sign that something was wrong and whether they could have prevented the untimely deaths. 


When a person completes suicide, they have been struggling with depression or some other form of mental health distress. Many African Americans don’t seek counseling or therapy because of collective generational traumas and the stigmas attached. Others can’t afford therapy or they want support from someone who looks like them. According to the American Psychological Association’s 2015 survey, only four percent of psychologists in the United States of America were African American. 


I openly talk about therapy and how I have benefitted. My father was schizophrenic. His life was challenged by treatments that were grueling and often not effective. In “Standing in the Shadows” authored by John Head who has been a journalist of at least three of the nation’s most respected newspapers uses his own story of long-unrecognized and untreated depression as a backdrop for the book. 


Head communicates, “That among African American men—and in the Black community in general-the response to suicide is something beyond benign silence. He says suicide is treated with outright hostility and denial. The strong religious taboo against the act is one of the reasons.” 


Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think, and how you act. It is anger turned inward. It is important to know that depression is a debilitating disease that can lead to suicide and other depths of darkness and hopelessness. 


I’m the survivor of my late first husband who ended his life by suicide. The family didn’t talk about how he died for many years. Some family members believed that I could have done something to prevent him from taking his life. It’s been over forty years and I’m still left wondering whether I could have done anything to change the outcome.


It is time my friends to give voice to depression and other mental illnesses in the African American communities. Treat them as you would any other illness. Get assessed and evaluated to determine what course of treatment is available.


Men and women, if you are suffering in silence, please seek help. Talk to a friend, mentor, pastor, or anyone who will listen without judgment and condemnation. Depression is an illness as much as cancer or heart disease. You don’t have to seek a permanent solution to a temporary setback. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255.


Health and wellness in Black History month! Take the step and ask for help!

                       See my homepage (momentswithmaude.com) for more about me.


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