THE BLACK CHURCH AND MENTAL HEALTH

The African American community to this day still labels a person of color admitting to being depressed or seeing a therapist - as being "weak or crazy."  This stigmatization creates a wall of silence and shame when a person of color is in therapy and/or is taking medication.  The black church is also guilty of adding to this shame, when they do not encourage their members to seek therapy for a mental illness, as they would encourage someone to see a doctor when that person has a chronic disease.  Yes, prayer does wonders, but it also does wonders when it is combined with therapy and/or medication.

 Jasmin Pierre has also addressed this issue in this article from Afro Punk,

"The Price of Prayer: The Absence of Mental Health in the Black Church"

For example: "Sister Tasha is going in for chemo therapy. Let's pray for the doctors to do their job and that she fully recovers in Jesus name"

Or

"Brother Malcolm just broke his leg and is in the hospital. Let's pray he does well in physical therapy and is healed in Jesus name"

I don't see anything wrong with either of those statements. They both involved getting help and prayer. I believe in God. I believe faith without works is dead. However what I don't like to see is how the church treats those who are dealing with mental illness.

 Most of the time you don't hear the preacher or assistant pastor tell someone dealing with mental illness to go get help. No you hear a statement like " If you're depressed that's a Demon! You need to only fast and pray to get that spirit out of you! You haven't been praying hard enough!"

It's just a demon you say? No talk of going to get help? How do you know this person hasn't already been praying? By not saying it's ok to go get help in addition to prayer is like implying that their illness isn't real. As for me growing up I noticed something. In the black community a lot of us were raised to think that church was the only way for mental Illness. We were taught that Depression is nothing but a demon and mental illness is a big sign of weakness.

This is why so many sit in church on a Sunday stressed and depressed but say nothing about how they're suffering. They go to church and hear a good word but still leave out depressed. People don't want to go through the hurt of the church not viewing their illness as real. This is how many end up not getting help or ending their life. I've actually even heard of people being kicked out of their church for trying to end their life. How is that Godly? How is that loving or caring?

I actually have a pastor that never treated me that way. When I tried to end my life I wasn't bashed. When I said I was going to get help I wasn't told that I was crazy. I was encouraged to both get help AND I was prayed for. If you are a believer THAT is how you should treat a person. You should not be condemned or shamed for being sick.

Church leaders need to be more mindful of what they say when it comes to situations like this. I feel like more mental illness training needs to be established as well. Making a member feel like they aren't believing in God hard enough when they are sick is very  DANGEROUS. You wouldn't tell someone with cancer, diabetes, or the flu not to get help. So DO NOT do that when someone is suffering from mental illness. It could very well mean their life.

Credit: *Jasmin Pierre is a 27-year-old mental health activist and author of the new self help book “A Fight Worth Finishing”. She is from New Orleans, Louisiana. Jasmin is constantly fighting for the rights of those suffering from major depressive disorder. She inspires to become a life coach and continue writing to encourage others to never give up.

Facebook: A Fight Worth Finishing Twitter: @afightworthfin Instagram: @afightworthfinishing

NEW YORK CITY'S MENTAL HEALTH ROAD MAP

Today, Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray released ThriveNYC: A Mental Health Roadmap for All. ThriveNYC is a plan of action to guide the city toward a more effective and holistic system that outlines 54 initiatives, 23 of them new, to support the mental well-being of New Yorkers. Additionally, ThriveNYC creates a model that can be applied nationally and a framework for advocacy. 

ThriveNYC is a bold response to a challenging reality: one in five adult New Yorkers face a mental health disorder each year. Eight percent of high school students in New York City report attempting suicide, and more than one in four report feeling persistently sad or hopeless. Deaths because of unintentional drug overdose now outnumber both homicide and motor vehicle fatalities

Many New Yorkers are suffering, even though mental health problems are treatable. In addition to the human toll, failure to adequately address mental illness and substance misuse costs New York City’s economy an estimated $14 billion annually in productivity losses.

ThriveNYC sets forth a plan to make sure that New Yorkers can get the treatment that they need – and lays out an approach that will improve the mental well being of all New Yorkers.



ThriveNYC highlights include:

• Mental health First Aid Training: The City will fund and facilitate the training of 250,000 New Yorkers, to better recognize the signs, symptoms and risk factors of mental illness and addiction and more effectively provide support.
• Public awareness campaign: A city-wide public awareness campaign will reshape the conversation around mental health, promoting mental wellness and early intervention and educating New Yorkers about how to get services.
• NYC Mental Health Corps: The city will hire 400 clinicians and recently graduated Masters and Doctoral-level clinicians to work in substance abuse programs, mental health clinics and primary care practices in high-need communities throughout the city. When fully staffed, this Corp can provide 400,000 additional hours of service.
• Mayor’s Conference for Mental Health: In 2016, the City of New York will host the first Mayor’s Conference for Mental Health. The conference will bring cities together to share new ideas and promising initiatives and send a strong message that mental wellness must play a central role in ongoing policy development.
• Mental Health in Schools: Building on the expansion of mental health services in Community Schools, the City will hire 100 School Mental Health Consultants who will work with every school citywide to ensure that staff and administrators have an outlet to connect students with immediate needs to care.

Credit: www.nyc.gov

Disclaimer: Black and Blue is not a substitute for direct, personal, professional mental medical care and diagnosis. None of the advice, or natural therapies and supplements mentioned should be used without clearance from your physician or mental health care provider. The information contained within this blog is not intended to provide specific physical or mental health advice, or any other advice whatsoever, for any individual or company, and should not be relied upon in that regard. I am not a licensed mental health therapist and nothing on this website should be misconstrued to mean otherwise.

23 Things To Do To Improve Your Mental Health In 2016

1. Make your bed every day.
2. Check your people-pleasing tendencies at the door.
3. Pick up a hobby that’s only purpose is to make you feel good.
4. Budget for little indulgences that make you feel better every month.
5. Commit to less negative self talk.
6. Put a small memory in a jar every day.
7. Distance yourself from — or end — relationships that drain you more than they energize you.
8. Cut “should” from your vocabulary.
9. Treat yourself like your best friend.
10. Find a therapist you really, really like.
11. Say “no” more — without explaining yourself.
12. Complain less.
13. Treat emotional pain like physical pain.
14. Get enough sleep.
15. Take up journaling.
16. Don't compare yourself to others.
17. Spend more alone time with yourself.
18. Start every day by reminding yourself of one positive thing about your life.
19. Cut back on social media.
20. Decorate your space so you’re surrounded by inspiring things.
21. Do more things that make you a little less anxious.
22. Share what you’re going through with friends.
23. Celebrate little victories more often.
    
    
    

    DISCLAIMER

    Black and Blue is not a substitute for direct, personal, professional mental medical care and diagnosis. None of the advice, or natural therapies and supplements mentioned should be used without clearance from your physician or mental health care provider. The information contained within this blog is not intended to provide specific physical or mental health advice, or any other advice whatsoever, for any individual or company, and should not be relied upon in that regard. I am not a licensed mental health therapist and nothing on this website should be misconstrued to mean otherwise.