July 1 marked the beginning of BIPOC Mental Health Month.
During BIPOC Mental Health Month, a month is dedicated to shining a light on underrepresented BIPOC communities whose mental health is often ignored, even as they report some of the highest rates of mental health struggles.
According to the latest report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Black Americans are 20% more likely to struggle with serious mental health issues. Adult Black Americans also report serious emotional distress at rates that are double the rate of the white American population.
Despite this, white American adults were given treatment for their mental health struggles at higher rates than Black American adults. Whereas 16.6% of white American adults were treated, only 6.5% of Black American adults received medication for their mental health. For depression, specifically, only 59.6% of Black American adults who experienced a major depressive episode were given treatment compared to 70.2% of white American adults who experience the same issue.
As the mental health crisis for Black Americans wagers on, here are five books written by Black authors that address stigmas and help readers understand and take care of their mental health.
- Too Heavy a Yoke: Black Women and the Burden of Strength: Written by Dr. Chanequa Walker Barnes, a psychologist and theologian, this book breaks down the idea of the “Strong Black Woman” trope. Using theology and philosophy, Dr. Barnes examines how the stereotype came to be and how music, TV, films and religion have helped perpetuate it. She also examines the effects of carrying heavy burdens, focusing on both the mental health effects and the physical effects; in addition to hypertension and diabetes, Barnes examines how the idea of the “Strong Black Woman” causes anxiety as the women are forced to maintain high levels of emotional strength while taking care of others.
- Who Put This Song On?: Created by poet and novelist Morgan Parker, “Who Put This Song On?” is a young adult novel loosely based on Parker’s own teenage experience. The story follows 17-year-old Morgan who enters her senior year of high school. Living in the suburbs, Morgan maneuvers through life with depression and anxiety in a religious household and is the only Black girl in a mostly white town. With a teacher who doesn’t know Black history, people who constantly try to ignore her identity as a Black girl and others who see her mental health as a conflict to her religious values, Morgan finds her identity and learns how to live the life she wants to on her own terms.
- The extraORDINARY Mr. Nobody: A Beginner’s Guide to Self-Healing: Written by writer and mental health care advocate Tsanonda Edwards, “The extraORDINARY Mr. Nobody” uses personal experience to help readers with changes in their lives. Throughout the book, Edwards uses his experience with depression and anxiety following his father’s death to help other Black men learn how to take their struggles and use them to find a purpose just as he did as a young man at Morgan State University. With his experience, Edwards writes a self-help book that was created to help men break free from stereotypes that prevent them from showing feelings in order to maintain their “masculinity” and find strength in their struggles.
- The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health: Navigate an Unequal System, Learn Tools for Emotional Wellness, and Get the Help you Deserve.: Written by a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Houston, Dr. Reeda Walker, Ph.D., “The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health” maps out how Black Americans can get the mental health treatment that the inequality in the healthcare system often denies them. Featuring information on how to both detect mental health struggles and find ways to deal with them, Dr. Walker’s book is a comprehensive guidebook on how mental health struggles can affect other aspects of your life and health and how Black Americans can overcome stigmas to get the best care they can get despite the racial bias in the medical world.
- My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies: Released by author and therapist Dr. Resmaa Menakem, this New York Times Bestseller explores the long-withstanding effects of racism using an analysis of body-centered psychology and anatomy. Throughout the book, Dr. Menakem uses scientific facts to explain how trauma from racism is processed and how this trauma affects both the mind and, as a result, the body. Referring to trauma as a “wound”, Dr. Menakem also offers tips on how to start the process of healing this wound through the latest healing methods.
