A few weeks ago actress Taraji P. Henson attended a hearing for the Congressional Black Caucus, who launched a task force in April to bring more awareness and conversation to the mental health issues black teens are facing. There she discussed the work her foundation, Borris Lawerence Henson Foundation, named after her late father who suffered with mental health challenges after serving in Vietnam War, is doing in addressing the issue.
Henson, who herself suffers from depression and anxiety, brought up everything from depression and anxiety to social media to gun control in her heartbreaking realization that children are harming themselves younger and younger today.
This alone brings up another topic of conversation. Why is it common in the African American community to not want to discuss our challenges with mental health? As Henson says at the hearing our method for some time now has been to pray our problems away. Yes, prayer is important but it can’t be the only solution. Sometimes therapy is okay or talking to someone that understands what we are going through. Suppressing problems until they build up and cause an explosion is what has led to a growth in suicide rates.
Henson brings up a good point in saying that mental health needs to be a subject in school because many people have been programmed to believe the stereotypes surrounding mental health the same way Henson describes her days as a special education teacher and working with young black men that believed there where limits to what they could do because of the label placed on them.
“I thought I was going to a school for special needs kids and when I got there, I was in a room full of all black young males, labeled special ed,” Henson says. “None of them were in wheelchairs, they could all speak, they could walk, they had all of their facilities. When I proceeded to try and teach these young men, they believed this label that had been placed upon them — ‘I’m special ed, Ms. Henson, I can’t learn that.’”
Mental health is to important, it affects everyone whether they are in a good or bad state of mind. We can not afford to give into the hype any longer that we can’t express our feelings and show emotions because we can’t afford to lose anymore people to depression and anxiety. In a world where self doubt, bullying and stereotypical images of what we should be are placed on us through social media, TV, music, etc. education about mental health is important. Therapy is important. Self love is important. Discussion is important. Listening is important. Understanding is important.
A Work of Faith Ministries, Inc. 