Black male mental health is a concerning issue in today’s society due to the high rate of depression, suicide, and stress-related illnesses. Black males experience a distinct set of challenges in our society, including institutional racism, social inequality, and gaps in health care, education, and the economy. Because of these circumstances, Black males frequently believe that society does not value their existence, much less their ideas and emotions. Black men are consequently more likely to receive subpar care when they do seek therapy for mental health issues than they are to do so in the first place.
The Black community has suffered greatly as a result of the eventual outcomes. For Black men aged 15 to 24, suicide ranks as the third most common cause of death. Black men’s mental health issues are more apparent; in 2018, the suicide rate for Black men was four times higher than that of Black women.
Numerous studies and statistical analyses have documented the issues that result in Black men’s insufficient access to high-quality mental health services. But the solutions—like ethnic diversity and sensitivity—are so sweeping that it’s difficult to see what good they actually accomplish. These are some real-world examples of these abstract ideas.
Getting Black Men Involved in Mental Health Care
Clinical professionals can use a variety of specialized techniques and procedures to improve Black men’s successful use of mental health care. The following elements need to be taken into account:
Individual Predispositions
It is important for clinicians to recognize that everyone has personal prejudices, and ethical practitioners need to take action to detect and identify these biases. It is not enough to merely reflect on this; more precise action is required. To discover areas of concern, one should employ instruments like Project Implicit’s Implicit Association Test (IAT), which evaluates prejudices including “skin tone” and “race.” Once prejudice has been detected, individual practitioners and agencies can take specific action, such as conducting follow-up assessments, to address the issues of bias on an ongoing basis.
Culturally Appropriate Evaluation and Prognosis
Black Americans are underdiagnosed for mood-related disorders like depression and anxiety and overdiagnosed for serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia. Even in cases where medication is prescribed and paid for by health insurance, they are also less likely to be offered it for their diagnosis.
The effectiveness of culturally sensitive diagnosis and treatment will be increased by putting into practice evidence-based screening and assessment tools that adhere to a biopsychosocial spiritual model, which is a treatment modality that considers biological, psychological, social, and spiritual factors when assessing and treating an individual. This important context is taken into account by using technologies that put the client’s perspective—rather than the doctor’s perspective—front and center.
Treatment Approaches, Methods, and Competencies
In order to establish rapport with Black guys, active listening is even more vital than it is in other successful therapy settings. The goals of treatment interventions should be to normalize the client’s sentiments, empower them, and show empathy for the particular challenges they have with racism and prejudice. The influence these circumstances have on the presenting issues and symptoms that brought the patient to your care is something that clinicians need to recognize and acknowledge.
Additionally, practitioners ought to seriously consider putting into practice particular strategies, such as talk therapy, story therapy, talking circles, and healing circles, which have been demonstrated to provide better treatment outcomes.
The client has the chance to talk about their feelings and emotions during talk therapy. For Black males, in particular, who frequently do not feel they have the chance to express themselves and be vulnerable while discussing their lived experiences, this is extremely important.
With narrative therapy, the patient and the therapist may take the patient out of the situation. With the help of storytelling, Black men can externalize harmful beliefs instead of internalizing them. Enabling them to give context and meaning to their particular life circumstances.
Healing circles are affordable and have been demonstrated to quickly reduce symptoms. These groups offer consumers a safe space to talk about their personal experiences without passing judgment. In the end, letting clients talk about their actual experiences validates them and fosters a feeling of camaraderie.
Spirituality
When appropriate, clinicians should actively treat patients according to their spiritual or religious beliefs. Black Americans continue to place more value on spirituality than other groups do, despite evidence showing that newer generations—Millennials and Gen Z—are less religious than previous generations. Furthermore, data indicates that Black Americans’ faith frequently acts as a barrier against harm, encouraging optimism and fortitude.
We run the risk of increasing this population’s marginalization and inequity if we do not address the mental health of Black men. Not attending to Black men’s mental health needs can worsen existing gaps in access to care, lower their quality of life, and cause long-term harm to their physical health and wellbeing. Black males are already more likely to be disregarded and neglected in the healthcare system. It is imperative that we guarantee Black men’s perspectives are heard in the mental health discourse and that they have access to culturally appropriate mental health care.
In addition, neglecting Black men’s mental health puts their families’ and communities’ wellbeing in jeopardy. A higher risk of poverty, substance misuse, violence, and incarceration is associated with mental health difficulties; these conditions already disproportionately impact Black populations. It’s time to give this population’s mental health top priority. It is evident that we can no longer put it off.
Black Mental Health Is Important
The killing of George Floyd beneath the knee of a White cop served as an example of police brutality against Black individuals and brought attention to the unique variety of mental stressors that Black men face.
Though there is still a long way to go until mental health services are available to everybody, psychologists are developing a number of potential interventions that target problems that Black males encounter. These include, in addition to modifications of individual therapy, outreach via technology and social media, community activities in barbershops and other local venues, and national networks committed to supporting Black men’s mental health and wellbeing.
Society will gain more from systems, programs, and practitioners who develop culturally appropriate approaches to support Black men’s mental health, including addressing racial trauma and its aftereffects.
Although the prevalence of mental illness among Black Americans is comparable to that of other Americans, there are some contextual variations. For instance, compared to American adults with greater financial security, Blacks living below the poverty line are more than twice as likely to report experiencing severe psychological distress. For instance, compared to White persons, Black people have more incapacitating, enduring, and treatment-resistant depression symptoms.
Black men’s mental health and treatment are closely related to variables, including high rates of poverty, limited access to high-quality psychological and psychiatric care, and implicit bias on the part of medical practitioners due to institutional racism and their specific history in this nation. For instance, Black people are less likely than White people to be included in mental health studies or to receive care that complies with guidelines. Additionally, because they have not received the necessary preventive services, they are more likely to seek treatment for mental health issues in emergency rooms or primary care settings.
It is not unexpected that a large number of Black men have misgivings about mental health professionals. This manifests in behaviors such as disengaging from systems, mistrusting systems, and believing that they don’t represent your best interests.
Foundational Elements for Interventions
Psychologists involved in this work claim that culturally acceptable treatments for Black men share key components because they consider these realities. Among them are:
Taking on the role of the man: Black men are even more likely than White men to support elements of the conventional masculine worldview, such as the necessity of seeming cool and collected and refraining from expressing their feelings.
The notion that toxic norms of masculinity interact with race. Black males from impoverished urban backgrounds are said to occasionally adopt an “aloof swagger” posture as a form of self-defense against the bigotry and harsh reality of everyday life, which erodes their physical and emotional wellbeing.
Therefore, it is crucial to be cautious when a Black man first enters therapy and begins to open up and share his feelings because if you press him too fast to talk about feelings when he is not ready, he can opt not to come back.
Black men who begin to develop a wider emotional vocabulary are better able to address past traumas and learn more effective communication techniques in relationships. Instead of withdrawing or reacting angrily, they start talking to their partners about their feelings.
Tackle racism: Treating Black men culturally competently also entails tackling racism head-on in a therapeutic manner. This entails providing a safe space for clients to identify instances of racism they have encountered, the emotions these experiences evoke, and—above all—to comprehend and actively combat internalized racism. Adopting White cultural norms while undermining one’s own, accepting negative racial stereotypes, and rejecting the existence of racism is only a few of the numerous manifestations of internalized racism.
Therapists should also be aware of the complex ways in which racism and masculinity overlap, as well as the idea that supporting particular views of manhood while falling short of them can lead to stress and internal struggle. For instance, some Black males may internalize the notion that they ought to be excellent caregivers, guardians, or role models.
Handling within-group differences: Understanding individual distinctions in terms of socioeconomic status, age, education, U.S. area, country of origin, belief systems, degree of acculturation, sexual orientation, and more are essential to working with Black males in culturally relevant ways.
Largely speaking, it is important to acknowledge that Black men born in the United States most likely combine elements of both Eurocentric and African American cultural values. These include the emphasis on individualism, nuclear family structure, and competitiveness, as well as the importance of extended family networks, interdependence with groups and relationships, spirituality, and flexible conceptions of time.
Including group work: Because these groups promote a sense of brotherhood, working with Black men in group forms can also be a powerful intervention. Recognizing that other guys have comparable challenges can help de-stigmatize caregiving. Students of color receive group trainings that teach them how to confront instances of racial microaggressions when they arise.
Extended kinship circles are a key component of many programs; these gatherings bring men and boys together, sometimes from different generations, to engage in conversation, participate in rituals, and mend racial scars. The circles provide a forum for open communication on the realities of life, such as internalized racism, its psychological and emotional toll, and the ways in which group members, as well as their families and communities, may be impacted.
Final Thought by Doc T Elliott
Black men who receive community-based support can eventually develop a clearer self-image and acquire insights that help them adopt healthier habits. The overarching goal is to support men of color in making wise decisions in spite of their traumas and life experiences.
Black men who had traumatically affected forebears may be more susceptible to mental health issues. Anxiety and mood disorders are examples of inherited trauma symptoms that can affect someone even if they did not personally experience a trauma. Particularly for Black people’s ancestors who have endured brutality and injustice, all of this has an impact on mental health.