Mental Health America, a Mental Health advocacy organization, correctly states that “Historical adversity, which includes slavery, sharecropping, and race-based exclusion from health, educational, social, and economic resources, translates into socioeconomic disparities experienced by Black and African American people today. Socioeconomic status, in turn, is linked to mental health: People who are impoverished, homeless, incarcerated, or have substance use problems are at higher risk for poor mental health.” The organization also states that racism, negative stereotypes, residual marginalization from current unequal policies, mistreatment by authorities, and other factors continue to exacerbate the already-widespread problem.
Moreover, there is a growing body of data, including research published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, that indicates Black teens are less likely to identify their own mental health issues or receive treatment for them as they emerge.
Black Americans of all ages face serious and profound mental health challenges, many of which are rooted in systemic and historical inequities and marginalization. Understanding the mental health issues that affect Black teens and adolescents today requires acknowledgment of systemic inequality at both the institutional and community levels. It’s easy to dismiss the past as prologue; however, the recent spate of police violence against Black youth, as well as the entrenched political suppression and disproportionate rates of poverty and incarceration, are just a few of the factors contributing to the mental health crisis among African American teens.
Persistent and well-founded mistrust of authority figures due to heightened rates of mistreatment and marginalization continues to perpetuate anxiety and other mental health issues, as well. Police is a tragically common cause of death among young men, especially young men of color.
Data published by Northwestern University indicates that young Black women and men are significantly more likely than White women and men to be killed by police, and that about 1 in every 1,000 black men can expect to be killed by police. The anxiety that this reality engenders can have lasting implications on mental health and anxiety.
You don’t have to struggle with mental health issues on your own, no matter what your race or cultural identity may be. Lean on people in your support system, practice self-care, and embrace therapy to give yourself perspective and self-awareness. Black youth are at undeniably high risk for mental health challenges; however, through de-stigmatization, progression toward systemic equality, awareness of these disparities, and better access to treatment, this trend can start to be reversed.
Originally published by: Better Addiction Care.
