Mental Health in the African American Community (Essay Sample)

Mental Health in the African American Community
Many theories are surrounding mental health in the African American community date back to the days of segregation. In reality, numerous options are available based on the person and the various communities each person is a member of. Common justifications include stigmas associated with the surroundings, a lack of support, fear, and individual stigmas. Then others have been passed down through the years, like unfavorable preconceptions, socioeconomic mobility, and the overt bigotry directed at African Americans attempting to seek self-help.
The absence of African American mental health professionals, historical traumas, mistrust, incorrect diagnoses, paranoia, economic inequality, and a lack of expertise or comprehension of one's internal processes are other common norms or barriers contributing to the mental health crisis in African American communities. Despite making up only 12% of the US population, African Americans are disproportionately represented in high-risk groups, such as those dealing with mental health. The lack of mental health that afflicts our community may be resolved and, ideally, at least partially eliminated if we can address these challenges.
History of Mental Health in the African American Community
When we look back into history, we find that the Tuskegee Experiment, which occurred in Macon County, Alabama, from 1932 to 1972, is one of the first examples of why there has been a lack of assistance for African Americans requesting aid. This experiment occurred in quite a disturbing manner (Frazier, 2020). Men infected with the sexually transmitted illness known as syphilis were selected to participate in a study project during which they were not notified that they had the condition. Instead, they administered placebos, even when the cure became accessible eight years later.
When the treatment was first initiated, it was claimed that these 600 men would receive free medical care and that reputable medical personnel would be there to assist them. Instead, they were duped and used as test subjects while men became extinct, and nothing was done to stop it. It would be unjust to claim that the deep history age of this, which dates to 1932, does not play a role in promoting mental health in the modern day (Boyd et al., 2020). Further investigation into the past shows why so many African Americans have been suspicious of the medical profession. The outward appearance of African Americans was used to determine the price at which they were sold at auction, even before slavery was abolished.
According to the findings of scientists, this was not a positive development. African Americans, particularly the men, were suitable for subjugation due to their physical power and their fragile psyches' propensity to be effortlessly coerced. Because enslaved people in the South had more mental illness than those in the North (since those in the North were free – according to researchers), they claimed that being enslaved was the best thing for their psychological health. Those who chose to flee away were deemed to have an illness called drapetomania (JD, 2020). The passage of time is the only thing that has demonstrated how racism has contributed to illuminating the methods in which this has been employed to preserve racist social systems and impact them.