By Julia Yarbough — 2021
The pandemic was rough for Black and Latina families, but many women in these communities met the challenges head on.
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CLEAR ALL
Our culture has taught us that we do not have the privilege of being vulnerable like other communities.
1
The Latinx community is just as vulnerable to mental illness as the general population, but faces disparities in treatment.
Eso es para locos. Esta generación... siempre inventando. These are the words I’d hear anytime I mentioned therapy or mental health growing up.
I’m learning that my challenge isn’t just to unlearn what my family has taught me, but to put myself in situations that would reaffirm the new lessons I was trying to replace the old ones with.
2
Racism, or discrimination based on race or ethnicity, is a key contributing factor in the onset of disease. It is also responsible for increasing disparities in physical and mental health among Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).
“When I started my undergraduate degree in psychology, my grandmother said she was afraid I would become pagal (“crazy”) because of it.
I am a black woman in deep pain. I’m watching the ongoing violence against my community and knowing that we are also dying at higher rates from this virus. What can we do about promoting our own healing?
Some people harbor the illusion that rest is a luxury they do not have time for, but the reality is that rest is a necessity.
Expectations surrounding Black masculinity, such as the requirement to be strong and stoic, have often prevented Black men from seeking mental health care. But it's possible to overcome this reluctance and make mental wellness a priority.
Barbara Ford Shabazz, PsyD, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, is painfully familiar with the various mental health issues that many members of the Black community face.