Excerpt from an article (Famous Gospel Artist Shares the Secret He Hid from the Church) posted 2/17/16 on http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews
In the living room of his suburban Maryland home on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., he told CBN's John Jessup that he started dealing with depression when he was around 30 years old. The feeling of being overwhelmed increased after a series of tragedies that landed him in what he described as a "deep, dark well." Those included the deaths of several close friends and learning in his adult years that the man he called "dad" from childhood, was not his biological father. "All of that was going on at the same time, and I just had to talk to somebody," he explained. He approached a minister from his church, who was also a licensed clinical psychologist. "After seeing me a while she said, 'Richard, you're 100 percent clinically depressed,'" Smallwood recalled. The talks helped, but he remained in the dark hole. Click here to read the article
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In the past few years, we have seen several incidents in the news demonstrating social injustice among people of color. If you have not been sequestered from society you have either seen these injustices or even experienced them yourself. After the recent South Carolina shooting, I saw a news article (http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/18/politics/obama-shootings-responses/) that stated, “President Obama has addressed the nation more than a dozen times regarding mass violence”. As a Black man in America social injustice is not surprising to me, yet it still saddens me every time I see a person of color treated unfairly. The past few days have been extremely difficult for me. I made a conscious effort to take a break from social media after seeing all of the images of social injustice that has occurred on the past months. I was completely broken inside after hearing about the shooting in SC. Although I have no personal connection to the individuals killed or to the state, the build up of all of the incidents that have occurred across the country literally “punched me in the gut” and my body just couldn’t take reading or seeing the news. The thing that made it was for me was thinking about our society and how it seems that we are going back in time instead of moving forward. Not only do we see White people getting no or lesser convictions for the same or worse violent acts by people of color, but we have a system that continues to justify causing undue hard to Black people. A recent article by Terrell Starr of AlterNet (online news magazine) sums up how social injustice impacts the daily lives of Blacks in America (see here http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/6-ways-white-supremacy-takes-toll-mental-health-black-people). Being a Black, male psychologist is tough at times personally and professionally. I believe I do a great job at separating my own emotions and personal experiences when I work with all clients. However, given the world we live in I continue to struggle with how to respond when incidents of social injustice occur. I recall one incident Fall 2014 when I was teaching a multicultural psychology course and the verdict of the Michael Brown case was announced. One of my students inquired about if we would talk about it in class. In that case, I had not processed my own feelings so I had to not engage in that discussion. Maybe one day we will grow as a society and will not have to confront injustice. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “We must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers”. To grow as a nation, we must change on a systemic level and this will sadly probably not occur in my lifetime. Copyright 2015 Erlanger A. Turner, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter @DrEarlTurner for more post on psychology, mental health, and parenting. I am also on Facebook (www.facebook.com/DrEarlTurner) Read my Psychology Today Blog https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-race-good-health
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), mental illness refers to having a mental health disorder that involves sustained, abnormal alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior associated with distress and impaired functioning. Having a mental heath disorder is a serious concern and is just as important as maintaining your physical health. Mental illness also makes it more difficult to manage chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma, epilepsy, and cancer (CDC, 2015).
Although mental illness and psychological difficulties impact all racial and ethnic groups, Whites are more like to utilize treatment to improve their difficulties. Recent data reports that in the past year, outpatient mental health services were most frequently used by White adults (7.8 percent), and American Indian or Alaska Native adults (7.7 percent), followed by Black (4.7 percent), Hispanic (3.8 percent), and Asian (2.5 percent) adults (SAMHSA, 2015). One of the biggest factors related to seeking psychological treatment is structural barriers and negative attitudes such as stigma. Service cost or lack of insurance coverage was the most frequently cited reason for not using mental health services across all racial/ethnic groups (SAMHSA, 2015). Additionally, the belief that use of mental health services would not help was the least frequently cited reason for not using mental health services across all racial/ ethnic groups (SAMHSA, 2015). In my own research, I have found that among racial and ethnic groups, stigma and concerns about privacy are some of the most important factors that hinder the use of services among these groups (Turner, Jensen-Doss, & Heffer, 2015). To improve the use of services efforts must be made to address the stigma around seeking services. One of the ways to decrease stigma is to better understand the benefits of seeking services. In a previous blog (https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-race-good-health/201503/5-signs-seeking-help-may-benefit-you), I discuss 5 signs for when to seek mental health services. These signs may help you decide whether you or someone close to you may benefit from talking to a psychologist or mental health professional.
Copyright 2015 Erlanger A. Turner, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter @DrEarlTurner for daily post on psychology, mental health, and parenting. Feel free to Like my Facebook page. Read my Psychology Today blog https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-race-good-health/
Reference:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015). Mental Illness Surveillance Among Adults in the United States. Retrieved May 2015 from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su6003a1.htm?s_cid=su6003a1_w Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2015). Racial/ Ethnic Differences in Mental Health Service Use among Adults. HHS Publication No. SMA-15-4906. Rockville, MD. Turner, E.A., Jensen-Doss, A., & Heffer, R. (2015, April). Ethnicity as a moderator of how parents’ attitudes and perceived stigma influence intentions to seek child mental health services. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. Advance online publication |
AuthorDr. Turner is a licensed psychologist with expertise in behavioral pediatrics, child mental health, disruptive behavior disorders, and minority mental health. He is also certified as a National Register Health Service Psychologist. Archives
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