“I think the black community kind of shuns mental health to the side because it’s deemed as taboo. A very taboo topic because in my household whenever I brought up my mental health struggles or like anything pertaining mental health, they wouldn’t take it seriously because my mother, she died of suicide. It shouldn’t take us to that point, or those types of situation for people take it seriously. And I feel like we really shouldn’t get to that point.”
“I do believe that the black community needs more emphasis on mental health, all the awareness, all the knowledge that we’re putting out there in resources saying that we are here, we do understand that there is a need for more awareness for mental health and in my humble opinion, I do believe that we’re getting better each and every day. So, if we can improve, I would say more awareness. More people getting a word out. And just more removing the stigma. A lot of times people will be embarrassed because of a mental health when it’s really just a human issue.”
“I feel like mental health is a big problem in our community mostly because older generations weren’t raised to really care for or talk about our mental health, I feel like as we get older and as we grow as a community, we start to think about it more and we see the consequences of not caring about mental health or just not talking about it. And I feel as though we could just be better overall and, like, talking about it and expressing our feelings with each other.”
“Do I believe that our community puts enough emphasis on mental health? Absolutely not for so many years, black people have been told not to do therapy and that you could just pray through everything and that everything is going to be okay. I do believe praying will help you, but sometimes, many times, we still need to talk to healthcare professionals about some of the things that are going on in our minds, in our heads. We need to address the trauma.”
“Mental health from the black community has not been addressed as vigorously as it should, but I believe that we are making inroads. There is a concern in regard to resources, education, and awareness, and I believe that community partners need to come together and address the issue. Seek out people of color who are providers and subject matter experts and get together and address these issues for the black community. There’s been a stigma associated with mental health and we need to remove that stigma. So I believe we do something to change that make sure that we do protect ourselves most physically, mentally, and spiritually.”
“For so long, mental health has been a taboo in our community, and many people have suffered and have fallen through the cracks. Our community needs to come together and put more emphasis on mental health so we can help our community members that desperately need this help.”
