Mental Health Mondays--I'm Not Crazy
Sorry for the delay, this weekend has been insane. But as promised I will have your posts done on time.
So off course, as I have mentioned before, May is mental health awareness month. Mental health is very taboo in the Black community. It's frequently labeled a "White people thing." To some extent, that's true. White people are more likely to actually be diagnosed. There's multiple reasons behind that, but that's a conversation for another day.
In the Black community, there's so much stigma that comes with mental diagnosis.Even without the diagnosis, people don't seek help through therapy is stigmatized. Everybody goes through things, but not everybody deals with them in a healthy way. There's the girl who grew up without a father, letting any and every man hit. There's the addict who was abandoned as a child. There's the stripper who is dancing to survive. Everybody has seen these "characters." They're nothing new, but the minute they go to therapy, it's like they are automatically labeled as crazy.
That's part of the reason I can appreciate Lee Daniels. When he created Empire, he created characters that are so common and relatable and brought it to a huge platform. Andre has bipolar-depression. You don't see that on television. Lee Daniels brought light to something that is so hidden. Andre had a snap. He got overwhelmed with life, and now boom he has a diagnosis. How many people do you know that "lost their mind" when life got too hard? Mental disorders do happen in the Black community. People are not just crazy so and so. Sometimes things are really wrong.
Personally, I went to therapy for about a year while I was in undergrad. As I've mentioned in one of my questions of the day, I don't deal with life the right way. I keep it moving like nothing ever happened. Well, while I was in undergrad (getting my degree in psychology--the irony), I started going to a sexual assault support group. The reason I was going to the group was to see how group therapy goes. One night, we were doing a self-defense class and I blacked out when it was my turn. I honestly didn't mean to. Somebody putting their hands around my neck brought up very bad memories. From that day, I started going to therapy once a week. Up until then, I never spoke to anyone about how I was abused as a child, how I was raped, or how I was beaten day after day for about 9 months. I internalized all of it. I never said a word because I didn't want anyone to think that I was crazy.
That label is what stops a lot of people from getting the help that they need. Instead of people going to therapy, they go to church. Don't get me wrong, going to church is great. It definitely helps heal. God is most definitely able to heal all of that, but some people would heal the right way if they got the help they need. God created doctors for a reason. Yes, God is able to heal just like He did the man in Mark 5, but that does not mean He'll do it just because you want Him to. It doesn't work that way.
Why do I have to be labeled as crazy to better myself? Even if we don't say it out loud, we think it about other people. Seeking help does not mean you're crazy. If you have to go to therapy, then do it. If you have to make amends with your parents, do it.
So off course, as I have mentioned before, May is mental health awareness month. Mental health is very taboo in the Black community. It's frequently labeled a "White people thing." To some extent, that's true. White people are more likely to actually be diagnosed. There's multiple reasons behind that, but that's a conversation for another day.
In the Black community, there's so much stigma that comes with mental diagnosis.Even without the diagnosis, people don't seek help through therapy is stigmatized. Everybody goes through things, but not everybody deals with them in a healthy way. There's the girl who grew up without a father, letting any and every man hit. There's the addict who was abandoned as a child. There's the stripper who is dancing to survive. Everybody has seen these "characters." They're nothing new, but the minute they go to therapy, it's like they are automatically labeled as crazy.
That's part of the reason I can appreciate Lee Daniels. When he created Empire, he created characters that are so common and relatable and brought it to a huge platform. Andre has bipolar-depression. You don't see that on television. Lee Daniels brought light to something that is so hidden. Andre had a snap. He got overwhelmed with life, and now boom he has a diagnosis. How many people do you know that "lost their mind" when life got too hard? Mental disorders do happen in the Black community. People are not just crazy so and so. Sometimes things are really wrong.
Personally, I went to therapy for about a year while I was in undergrad. As I've mentioned in one of my questions of the day, I don't deal with life the right way. I keep it moving like nothing ever happened. Well, while I was in undergrad (getting my degree in psychology--the irony), I started going to a sexual assault support group. The reason I was going to the group was to see how group therapy goes. One night, we were doing a self-defense class and I blacked out when it was my turn. I honestly didn't mean to. Somebody putting their hands around my neck brought up very bad memories. From that day, I started going to therapy once a week. Up until then, I never spoke to anyone about how I was abused as a child, how I was raped, or how I was beaten day after day for about 9 months. I internalized all of it. I never said a word because I didn't want anyone to think that I was crazy.
That label is what stops a lot of people from getting the help that they need. Instead of people going to therapy, they go to church. Don't get me wrong, going to church is great. It definitely helps heal. God is most definitely able to heal all of that, but some people would heal the right way if they got the help they need. God created doctors for a reason. Yes, God is able to heal just like He did the man in Mark 5, but that does not mean He'll do it just because you want Him to. It doesn't work that way.
Why do I have to be labeled as crazy to better myself? Even if we don't say it out loud, we think it about other people. Seeking help does not mean you're crazy. If you have to go to therapy, then do it. If you have to make amends with your parents, do it.
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