The pandemic, economic anxiety, and reignited fights on racist structures have created a “mental health tsunami” in the Black community, one expert says.
Sarah Silbiger / Getty Images fileAs a child, Reginald Howard struggled with destructive visions, moments where he imagined destroying the shelves at the corner store or pushing another child down, but when he tried to identify what was happening, his mother attributed it to his “Howard blood.”
Howard’s mental health went unaddressed as a child and he continued to struggle with mental illness into adulthood, which led to a crisis point in 2011. Friends and family were able intervene during two separate suicide attempts by Howard, but he didn’t get into therapy for the first time until 2018, he said. His crisis points led Howard to do research and seek help, which allowed him to finally manage his own mental health problems.
The mental health of Black Americans is under strain as 2020 unravels, bringing to light racial disparities across the country. Notable Black celebrities, such as Michelle Obama and Gabrielle Union, opened up in recent weeks about how racial strife in America has affected their own wellbeing.
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