While violent police encounters involving Black people dominate headlines, the news is having a detrimental impact on the mental well-being of Black Americans, some experts say.
of Columbia University suggests that Black Americans are 20% more likely to experience"serious mental health problems" than the general population. They also found that Black youth who are exposed to violence are 25% more likely to experience PTSD.
"[Police killings] have affected people's everyday functioning. From people being hyper-vigilant when you're just going outside to the onset of having a panic attack when you're pulled over by the police, it has an effect," Saleemah McNeil of the Oshun Family Center said.A portrait of George Floyd is held aloft at the Lincoln Memorial as people listen to the Rev. Al Sharpton speak during the March on Washington, Aug. 28, 2020, in Washington.
"I struggle with mental health anyway but seeing all of this has made it infinitely worse. There's this awful desire to be informed, especially with continued unrest in Minneapolis, while also knowing that it is wearing me down. It's wearing everyone down. The world is a bad place and it makes me wonder, 'what's the point?' It gets hard to find a reason to live when we are surrounded by death constantly.
"I did not watch the Floyd video. I still haven't seen it. I only saw the 17-year-old who had the gun," she said referring to Kyle Rittenhouse, the alleged gunman accused of opening fire during Kenosha, Wisconsin, protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake and of killing two people. Rittenhouse's attorney, L. Lin Wood,"The only reason I saw that is because it was a clickbait. I didn't know I would be watching the actual video.
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