How does racism play a role in African American mental health?

1) Racism is a choice that comes upon a person with a lack of understanding and respect towards others. Psychological problems are not choices. Racism is a decision and conscious decisions do have the tendency to be an environmental anomaly. Incidentally, most of the openly racist people I know are African Americans. I think it’s something that has been cultivated in American culture for years. I don’t think they’re crazy at all for being racist, I just think they’re taught that it’s ok to hate.

2) I think African Americans that have experienced racism have the personal experience to share their story and educate others about the horrors therein, not perpetuate it by hating others right back. That seems to be the trend. Being a survivor is more noble than being a victim. No one remembers victims. Survivors are written in stone in history books all over the world.

A little information about me, I am white. I live in West Virginia but I was born in Massachusetts where my ancestors walked off the boat over 200 years ago. I have 2 direct descendants who fought in the Civil War for the Union. My Great Grandfather was a banker who gave out home loans to African Americans 60 years before it was “cool.” My relatives were anal retentive nerds who documented everything and nary a slave has ever been mentioned. I think background is important here, bear with me.

I went to high school in Florida, I hated it… That just to say, I shaved my head one summer because it was hot. I was called a skin head because I opted for comfort. I’ve been called “nasty cracker” for riding my bike around the block. I walked in to a store one day and a lady screamed at me “I feel the same way about you” than stormed out. I had a friend in school who told me I couldn’t hang out at his house because I was white…

Not I, nor my family, owes anyone an apology. I am, however, horrified about what happened in the South. Sometimes a problem is more of a perception than an actual reality. Those folks assumed I was their problem. When a mind dwells on something over and over the person will make it real to themselves. That’s why the Bible says that part of becoming a Christian means there needs to be a renewing of minds and hearts to the ways of truth and righteousness. It’s a personal change, it’s a choice. Psychology is cause and effect, it’s a science. It’s not personal.

Racism is a personal problem and it will never be dealt with properly unless people learn respect. That starts in the home. I may have rambled a little but I feel that it was important to follow through and give your question serious thought. Now, when it comes to Psychology, if everyone were to decide that racism is dead, would it simply go away? I think thats a question that ought to be in your report. I decided long ago it has nothing to do with me. I made that choice. It’s worked for me!

White middle-class kids who act up are given Ritalin, tutors and extra attention, preparing them for college and jobs.

Black kids who act up are suspended and expelled, preparing them for joblessness and entry into the prison system.

Welcome to fluther.
Question 1, Does it affect mental health. Yes as @jaytkay already pointed out. You get told that you are worthless long enough, it will affect your own self worth. I also find that racism within ones community can make it difficult for people to seek mental health when needed. It is seen as being a shameful act for a person to seek mental health. I grew up in the bronx, so although I am not african american, I grew up in an african american/ latino, community. Both suffer from racism and the affects are the same. Facing hatred most of your life colors your perception of people. Makes a person paranoid. You don’t know who to trust outside of your family. They can also start to see their community through the eyes of the people who hate them.

Example: My daughter was in kindergarden. She had A’s all the way through. Her teacher was African American and her teacher was retiring. Last day of school, I found out she failed her. The assistant teacher told me to fight it because it was BS. She, and another teacher who taught my son, went with me to the principals office to straighten it out. They both didn’t understand her actions. They knew my daughter was advance and as for her behavior, she was very well behave. The assistant teacher told me that she had noticed that this teacher was biased against all the minority children but especially my daughter. She said that the teacher had passed white students that didn’t deserve to pass and almost didn’t pass some other children but she really hated my child. My daughter is african and puerto rican. I thought she would understand racism since she was black and white mix. But somehow she became a racist towards her own.

Question 2, Strong family support system can help people rise above any hatred they encounter. Another way is strong family or religious values.
Though some people are charged by racism no matter what their family or moral values are. Some people are born with strong self esteem and only work harder to prove to others that racism will not hold them down from their dreams. They use the rage of other people as fuel to keep them going and sometimes even to fight and rally against the injustice of racism.

If you’re referring to the profession of mental health, I don’t have an answer because I don’t work in that field or know anything about it. If you’re referring to general mental health and esteem, I would say a lot of people are affected by anything negative they face, whether it’s racism, bullying, abuse at home etc.

People handle racism in their own ways when they experience it. I’ve experienced some racism (being asked to leave a house party, some light bullying in school, being rejected by a woman due to skin color), and I was hurt initially just like anyone would that feels or is told they aren’t wanted or accepted (especially due to something they can’t control).

I may have developed a slight esteem problem growing up because I sometimes really felt that I was inferior or not accepted by some people, but this can be felt (and is) by many young people. it doesn’t matter if it’s pimples, being called ugly etc.

I may have been rejected by a few random people, but I was also liked by a lot of people as well. I grew up and started to realize this wasn’t the majority. There’s nothing wrong with me and people that are racist are actually just stupid. Nothing was my fault.

This is just my experience, so what others feel and how others handle certain things will vary. To clarify, I’m a black male that grew up in a place with a lot of white people. I lived in a pretty nice area, so when I did start acting up in school, I was given Ritalin and extra attention/tutoring and it did help. If I was raised in a different area, who knows.

A lot of this stuff is socioeconomic, though, even though race is still a factor.

In order to answer this question yourself, see how racism has affected, Filipino-Americans, Japanese-American, Korean-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, etc…

Compile a list of their house hold income, education status, work status, pay wage when first arriving as immigrants/slaves.

You’ll have some accurate information to base off of. (Sorry the idea of 1 race being affected by racism seems really knit-picky to me)

I’m not black so I am not sure how miuh my opinion really counts. From the outside looking in, I think the messages given by parents and other adults around the child mean a lot more than a random racist action by another. If a parent constantly tells their kid society is racist and they need to work harder just to get the same chance as the white guy, I think that is detrimental to their self esteem. Most people in America do not grow up with blatant racism all around them. I firmly believe the majority of the country is not racist, although I do think we look for a certain amount of conformity having nothing to do with skin color. Sometimes people are so sure everyone is out to get them they always jump to that conclusion when it is far from true. It makes them more paranoid, less trusting, and often more angry.

Girls worry about being flat chested, boys who are not athletic might get razzed, red heads might feel self conscious, all sorts of crap kids worry about or feel like they don’t fit in. Unfortunately, we can easily focus on the negative instead of the tons of positive reinforcement around us.

I think socioeconomics have a lot to do with this, and when a community has a fairly clear division of African Americans being much lower on the socioeconomic scale, those communities have at least what seems to be the appearance of more racism.

Tying this back in with mental health, if someone constantly feels like they don’t really have a chance, they might feel anywhere from depressed, angry, low self esteem, any or all of those. If they act out in anger, that can begin a downward spiral of more and more negative reinforcement.

I am a white female who grew up in a multicultural town and have been friends with and dated people of many different ethnicities, cultures, sexual preferences, gender identities, and religious backgrounds. Besides being in the female ‘minority’ (and yes, even though women won their civil rights long before blacks did, “male privilege” still prevails), I lived with a black boyfriend who was like a step-father to my blond haired white son for several years, and witnessed some of the differences in how we were treated firsthand.

Questlove (a very talented, highly respected musician) recent posted commentary following the Zimmerman verdict that helped explain it well: http://www.okayplayer.com/news/questlove-trayvon-martin-verdict-you-aint-shit.html

And while this video doesn’t actually address the mental health aspect of the different treatment of people with more melanin, it gives good food for thought in helping someone imagine what living everyday as being considered ‘less than’ or even ‘dangerous’ by people who don’t know you can do to one’s sense of self.

Thank you all for helping me with this “interview” especially for adding some of your background infromation. I greatly appreciate it and your input was awesome!

@jaytkay I was a white, middle class kid who was thrown in a “special” class for being hyper. It’s more about the family dynamic and culture that raises kids you know. Sure, the system is abysmal but at the same time are they really the only ones responsible?

@Pandora “Does it affect mental health. Yes as @jaytkay already pointed out” No, jaykay didn’t point anything out but anti-system propaganda. That’s not a solution, it’s complaining about one of the problems kids today face regularly. White kids and black kids are handled differently in a lot of cases because we live in a culture that tends to repeat it’s mistakes and follow procedures habitually without forethought. I think a lot of black people have simply given up and accept this status instead of fighting it properly. I don’t think it’s racism as much as laziness, to be honest.

@pleiades I think that’s a good point. There are millions of slaves all over the world as we speak. Most of them (statistically) are Asian. In this country, our native population was considered to be worthless and in a lot of cases shot on sight. Former and even current African slaves always had value and were never hunted down and slaughtered anyway near that sort of ruthless capacity. It’s one thing to be treated like dirt but it’s another thing entirely to have troops come in and slaughter your entire village. Native Americans are by far the most repressed group on this continent. I also agree with your second point.

Here is an excellent fact sheet.

- African-Americans are overly-diagnosed with schizophrenia
– African-Americans are less likely to receive mental health care
– There have not been adequate clinical studies to determine the best course of treatments for African-Americans (some studies suggest a difference in metabolization of medication among African-Americans)

After reading @Cupcake‘s link I feel more strongly mental health issues have a lot to do with economic circumstance. We should do statistics for the poor, rather than only divide things up by race. The metabolism of medicine is an important racial consideration, but I believe that is separate from the rest of the information.

@DWW25921 African slaves were never hunted down and slaughtered? There was a few lynchings here and there. Some black people were shot on sight. They were terrorized for sure. I’m the last person to tolerate a lot of talk from black people about how they are at some sort of disadvantage still and I don’t listen to complaints about history much, because my response is my people were sent to the ovens. But, I am not going to change history either, America was awful to much of the African American population that was brought, bought and sold here.

@JLeslie We should do statistics for the poor, rather than only divide things up by race.

The two are tangled together. The numbers are astounding.

Average Wealth
White families $265,000
Black families $28,500

Nobody can honestly deny that this will make a HUGE difference in people’s ability to cope with all of life’s challenges:

Link

@jaytkay I know they are tangled, but when we catagorize by race, people associate the subject at hand, whether it be school drop out rate, mental health, imprisonment, with the race. As in, the race is the problem. So, rewording it to poverty serves us all better. Because, there are poor people who are not black who also struggle in poverty and all that comes with it, and black people don’t get stereotyped.

@JLeslie I did not say, at any time that slaves were not hunted down and slaughtered. I said that they were not nearly as repressed as our native peoples, who took that sort of thing a lot more often and on a much larger scale. Incidentally, I do agree with you that mental health issues may very well have more to do with economic indicators than race. However, I do believe that racism, in and of itself, is a personal choice. I live in a largely white, poor area and these folks are nuts! People are people.

@DWW25921 So, what exactly is the point? I’m not being obnoxious, my tone is just inquisitive. You are saying black people are lazy (I realize you don’t mean all of them). Why do you think they are lazy, why don’t they unlaze (I think I made up that word) themselves? Do you think years of oppression whether black, Asian, or Jewish is an excuse? Do you thinkart of the reason is because they still live in the very country that oppressed them?

@JLeslie (sigh) I never said black people were lazy. Are we reading the same thing here? This is the second time you’ve done this to me and frankly it’s getting old. I digress…

Our Psych major will appreciate this… Look up Stockholm Syndrome. There is a parallel here I think. People become used to, even enjoy being captives of poverty because it’s all they’ve known for so long. It becomes almost a comfort zone. There’s a trailer park full of white people with that mentality just down the road from me. I think people are people. White people can get just as complacent and lazy as anyone else.

People become used to, even enjoy being captives of poverty because it’s all they’ve known for so long. It becomes almost a comfort zone.

So they should leap out of poverty and become wealthy? Great idea. Make it so.

Please keep us updated on your progress.

@jaytkay That didn’t make any sense. Instead of being obnoxious and critical of big words you clearly don’t understand, why not look up “Stockholm Syndrome” for yourself, or am I overestimating your intelligence?

Clearly, I was explaining a psychological disorder.

I am well aware of Stockholm Syndrome. Every person who reads the news is aware.

So tell us how you will free people from their psychological disorder and they will become wealthy individuals.

@Eby109 Good luck! Don’t forget your stance can evolve over time, with more experience in life more room for imagining a certain way may occur. My point is, try not to stress about the writing process and at least turning in thoughtful paper for class!

:)

@jaytkay As you probably know, having the desire to change would help. People have to want to better themselves. All a counselor can do is give suggestions and try to focus on positivity.

People have to want to better themselves. All a counselor can do is give suggestions and try to focus on positivity.

Excuses and dodges are not helpful. Tell us how you will free people from their psychological disorder and they will become wealthy individuals.

@jaytkay LOL Your reply tells me you know nothing of this field of study. It doesn’t work that way and I can only assume you’re being a troll and you know it.

Your reply tells me you know nothing of this field of study.

Being a racist is a field of study?

@jaytkay Ok troll, I’m done with you.

@DWW25921 I’m not really buying into the stockholm syndrome idea for poverty and laziness. People are not beng held captive. There are cultural reasons, lack of opportunity, our low minimum wage, many many complex reasons why the poor stay poor. If Stockholm Syndrome was the main reasons the majority of Jews would be poor, and that is not the case. When they had freedom they seized it. When they had opportunity for education they took it.

Also, you may want to look at the lurve scores for the people you are calling trolls. Anyone who lasts for 20,000 points is not likely to be a troll.

Ok troll, I’m done with you.

Oh, so sad,.

And you were THIS close to telling us how to end racism.

Our loss!

@JLeslie Actually you do bring up a good point as situations like this are never so cut and dry as to put them all in a box. I suggested Stockholm Syndrome as this is a psychology question and I think it’s the closest term to fit the problem but you are right, it’s not a perfect fit. Things rarely are in this field of study.

As for your friend, I felt like he was purposefully trying to antagonize me and all I’m trying to do is answer a very interesting question the best way I know how. I think he’s being disrespectful to this forum.

@DWW25921 Unless you mean the politicians are the captors giving crumbs to the poor so they believe they need those people to survive and buy into their bullshit about how the rich getting rich will mean the poor live better lives.

@JLeslie I think that’s an excellent observation actually… :)

As @JLeslie says, I am not a troll.

I am not trying to poke anybody for the reaction.

Please feel free to attack anything I say. Also, please understand I am in earnest.

@DWW25921 So, how are you tying that back to the main question? Your saying the poor suffer from Stockholm Syndrome which is a mental illness? Seriously, I don’t think that is the main thrust of the Q. My grandfather grew up poor and in horrific circumstances. He was paranoid schizophrenic so was at least one siblings, another was inpatient almst her entire adult life, I assume she was schizophrenic also, but I am not sure, and another brother committed suicide. That is what poverty and “racism” did to them. Probably there is a genetic predisposition also, but no other part of my family in the generations since have that problem. Growing up in poverty can be like experiencing war, and we certainly are sympathetic to the PTSD, depression, and other psychological difficulties our soldiers have. That isn’t Stockholm, that is trauma.

@JLeslie Meh… I don’t think being poor has anything to do with being racist.

I do think that PTSD is a good tie in here as I can see how certain terrible conditions can definitely bring that out. Traumas can manifest themselves in many different ways and it’s hard to “box” it as it’s very diverse. I was actually told I have PTSD once after a few incidents. I’ve been thinking about that but wasn’t willing to bring it up. But you did mention it and to be fair I do agree that PTSD can easily come in to play here.

PTSD can easily be tied into racism as first hand accounts of the trauma are revealed to close friends and loved ones who in turn begin to resent and even hate their antagonist. If this is coupled with an environment of feeling helpless and trapped one could argue that Stockholm Syndrome comes into play as the repressed feel the antagonist is responsible for that too.

@DWW25921 What do you mean poor has nothing to do with being racist? I didn’t say that. I don’t know what you are talking about.

I was saying PTSD can be tied to living in poverty. Probably racism could be too, but I don’t think most of America has ongoing, constant, or accutely violent racism that we can account a lot of cases of PTSD to racism.

Not only does racism effect diagnosis and treatment, economic repression induces and/or aggravates any predisposition for mental illnesses. @Cupcake provided a link to NAMI that gives some answers to the question of how racism affects the mental health of African Americans. Here are some quotes from this link:
* African Americans in the United States are less likely to receive accurate diagnoses than their Caucasian counterparts. Schizophrenia, for instance has been shown to be over diagnosed in the African American population.
* Culture biases against mental health professionals and health care professionals in general prevent many African Americans from accessing care due to prior experiences with historical misdiagnoses, inadequate treatment and a lack of cultural under standing; only 2 percent of psychiatrists, 2 percent of psychologists and 4 percent of social workers in the United States are African American.
* African Americans are often at a socioeconomic disadvantage in terms of accessing both medical and mental health care: in 2006, one-third of working adult African Americans were uninsured in the preceding year.
* Social circumstances often serve as an indicator for the likelihood of developing a mental illness. African Americans are disproportionately more likely to experience social circumstances that increase their chances of developing a mental illness.
* African Americans comprise 40 percent of the homeless population and only 12 percent of the U.S. population. People experiencing homelessness are at a greater risk of developing a mental illness.
* Nearly half of all prisoners in the United States are African American. Prison inmates are at a higher risk of developing a mental illness.
* Children in foster care and the child welfare system are more likely to develop mental illnesses. African American children comprise 45 percent of the public foster care population.
* Exposure to violence increases the risk of developing a mental illness; over 25 percent of African American children exposed to violence meet criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder.

@jaytkay correctly points out that poverty has a strong correlation to mental illness. Mental Illness and Poverty – A Fact Sheet supports this.

@DWW25921 sees a parallel between the Stockholm Syndrome and people who “become used to, even enjoy being captives of poverty because it’s all they’ve known for so long. It becomes almost a comfort zone.” Though perhaps overstated, I agree in principle. The life situation into which one is born is their normal. Survival is a genetic imperative that impels all species to avoid extinction by adapting to adverse conditions.