Because of structural racism and Black men’s unique history in this country, their mental health and treatment are intimately tied to factors such as implicit bias on the part of medical providers, high poverty rates, and low access to quality psychological and psychiatric services. When Black men do seek help and would prefer a same-race provider, it can be difficult finding Black psychologists, since they still make up only about 4% of the doctoral-level psychology workforce (though that number is growing, according to 2018 APA Center for Workforce Studies data).Īt the same time, Black men’s mental health is more complex than statistics or clinical diagnoses indicate, according to subject matter experts. For example, only 26.4% of Black and Hispanic men ages 18 to 44 who experienced daily feelings of anxiety or depression were likely to have used mental health services, compared with 45.4% of non-Hispanic White men with the same feelings ( NCHS Data Brief No. 15, 2019).Īnd Black men are not receiving the help they need for these problems. K., et al., Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, Vol. As another example, depressive symptoms among Black people are more disabling, persistent, and treatment-resistant than they are among White people (Bailey, R. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health. adults who enjoy greater financial security, according to the U.S. For example, Black adults living below the poverty line are more than twice as likely to report serious psychological distress as U.S. While Black Americans experience similar rates of mental illness as other Americans in general, there are contextual differences. “Think of all the innovators, entrepreneurs, scientists, and physicians there would be if Black men weren’t being killed with impunity by police officers and if we were creating spaces for them to heal, grow, and thrive.” Statistics, realities “We also need to think about how much talent we’re hemorrhaging” by not providing Black men with the proper support. “Interventions shouldn’t be just about healing and restoring Black men, though that would be enough,” she said. The more that systems, programs, and providers find culturally relevant ways to foster Black men’s mental health-including directly addressing racial trauma and its effects-the more society will benefit, added Wizdom Powell, PhD, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut and director of the university’s Health Disparities Institute. Besides adaptations of individual therapy, these include community programs in barbershops and other local venues, outreach through technology and social media, and national networks devoted to facilitating Black men’s mental health and well-being. There is a long way to go toward making such mental health care universal, Stevenson and others say, but psychologists are crafting several promising interventions that address issues that Black men face. If a Black man is able to find a treatment that is culturally responsive, that he understands, and that embraces the uniqueness of his difference, he is more likely to use that service.” “We should place less emphasis on whether Black men are resistant to therapy,” said Stevenson, “and more on understanding the contexts in which they already feel comfortable talking about their feelings and traumas. Stevenson, PhD, director of the Racial Empowerment Collaborative at the University of Pennsylvania and a national expert in helping people of color address and heal from racism. Poet Prentice Powell, written following the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014Ģ020 was a year of reckoning about many things, but one central theme centered on police brutality toward Black men, sparked by the murder of George Floyd under a White officer’s knee.įor psychologists who work with, study, and support Black men, that incident and the resulting protests were an added call to find better, more effective ways of promoting Black men’s mental health, said Howard C. It’s learning how not to doubt yourself because when you’re born everyone else already does.” It’s believing the cops don’t care about you. Being a black man in America means being my brother’s keeper while keeping a distance from my brother because I don’t trust him further than I can see him.
Being a black man in America means being my brother’s keeper.