Monday, November 27, 2017

Hip-Hop Works to Break Down Mental Health Stigma for Black Men


Tears streamed down the face of suicide survivors as they stood on the stage at the Video Music Awards as hip-hop artist Logic performed “1-800-273-8255,” a song titled after the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

The bi-racial rapper, who openly discussed having anxiety, has used his music to address the seriousness of mental health and urge people from diverse backgrounds to seek professional assistance.

“I just want to thank you all so much for giving me a platform to talk about something that mainstream media doesn’t want to talk about,” he said during the VMAs in August. 

A history of stigma surrounds mental health, specifically in the black community, and it contributes to the normalization of self-medication and ignoring destructive symptoms, experts say. In 2015, 2,504 blacks died by suicide in the United States, 2,023 or 80.79 percent of which were male, according to a report from the American Association of Suicidology. 

Click here for the full article.

Source: NBC News 

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