Helloooooo!
July is minority mental health awareness month!
According to the U.S Department of Health & Human Service Office of Minority Health, adults who identify as part of the Black diaspora/African Americans are 20{486ea68ac83e9283ffff06e5c863eae233a6ec8af4d778a8ee137023384e0cb0} more likely to report serious psychological distress than white adults. However we make up one-quarter that seek mental health care, compared to 40{486ea68ac83e9283ffff06e5c863eae233a6ec8af4d778a8ee137023384e0cb0} of whites (according to NAMI-National Alliance on Mental Health).
Stigma plays a huge role in seeking support out of fear of being judged or even being viewed as ‘crazy’, as a result a lot Black people cope in silence. Coping is silence can look like that friend who takes 2-3 weeks to respond to a text message. It can be that friend who turns up a little too hard than everyone else in the group. It can be that friend who “has an attitude problem” and is irritable about most things. Additional symptoms as a result of stress can include but are not limited weight loss and/ or increased appetite/ weight gain. It can be persistent physical symptoms like headaches/migraines, chronic pain and digestive issues.
For me it was chronic migraines and weight loss. Late 2015-Mid 2016 was a character building chapter in my life where the level of stress that I carried in my body was indescribable. I did the best I could at the time to hold it all together and just ‘deal with it’. My sense of self took a HUGE HIT and my hair was shedding in chunks and I was ashamed, I felt that I should have known better. Extending grace to myself for the decisions that I made and also practicing compassion to start over was how I gradually worked my way to being a better me. My therapists (I went to a few until I found the right fit) played a huge role in helping me check my own shit and learn new patters that were constructive to my growth from the inside out.
Releasing, old stuff has made room for all the new blessings in my life like being a co-author in the upcoming anthology ‘Black Therapists Rock- a glimpse through the eyes of experts’ coming soon- August 2018. This journey has taught me to practice more of what I love:
- Eating cupcakes lol,
- Pole fitness
- Reading
- Binge watching on Netflix’s
- Traveling
- Treating myself to something nice-regularly.
- Forgiving myself daily
- Allowing myself to start again until I get it right (whatever ‘that’ may be).
For the month of July what are you committed to doing today to heal from your past?
I look forward to haring your how you work towards your own healing.
-Nydia
