An Op-Ed by Taraji P. Henson
People in the African-American community have long been afraid to talk about our mental health; we just don't do it. We're told to pray it away, we're told to be strong, we're told it's a sign of weakness or, a lot of times, mental health issues comes off as "rage" and is dismissed or ignored. There’s shame and taboo around the topic.
We have to break that silence.
What
made me comfortable with talking about it was that my father had issues
with mental illness, and he was very vocal about it. So I never thought
there was something "wrong" with either having mental health challenges
or talking about it. But then, when I grew up and had my own hardships —
my own traumas — and it was time to deal with them head on, there was
an issue: I couldn't easily find a therapist who really understood my
challenges as an African-American.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
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