As a woman of a certain age, in retrospect, I think my adolescent years were raw ones. I was an awkward kid — vulnerable — even confused at times, and I’d chronicle every ounce of it onto the pages of my heavily safeguarded diary.
I believe there was an innocence to this rawness. My regular penning of those feelings was a tool I’d use to help me figure out who I was and how to understand the world around me, providing a space that served as somewhat of a shield. It offered shelter from a bombardment of societal influences that could have bulldozed me into much more because, perhaps, they weren’t much in the way of digital impact.
Today, however, I find that isn’t so true. My raising a teenage girl gives me a bird’s eye view of a world where girls are growing up amid a rising number of outside pressures that make their passage into teen and adulthood far more psychologically alarming than it used to be.
In recent years, research has shown an upsurge in anxiety and depression among girls at rates notably higher than boys. Per a poll published by NBC News in February of this year, nearly 3 in 5 teen girls (57%) said they felt “persistently sad or hopeless,” the highest rate in a decade. 30% said they have seriously considered dying by suicide, a percentage that has risen nearly 60% over the past ten years.
With so much focus on performance and competition these days, experts say our children are, by default, missing out on some of the critical stages of childhood – those that include simpler, less sophisticated activities like just hanging out at parks with friends, chatting about anything. They seem to have been replaced with a more fast-paced culture filled with simultaneous online outlets that expose them to more sex, violence, drugs and alcohol use than any generation before them.
However, clinicians also point out that most young girls are not as mature as one would think, so the bullying, hypersexualization, smoking and body shaming – just to name a few of the challenges that plague their tender hearts and minds – are way too much for them to grasp and process. What’s more, Black youth, specifically, are at a higher risk for depression, anxiety and other mental health struggles than their non-Black peers, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They’ve also reported that suicide is increasing at a faster rate for teens of color, as Black girls in grades 9-12 are 60% more likely to attempt suicide than white girls of the same age.
These startling dynamics have created an enormous need for safe spaces where Black girls (and Black women) are healthfully encouraged and supported in everyday life.
Black women, too, are showing overall higher rates of biopsychosocial challenges such as depression, heart disease and anxiety, per therapist Keisha Pruden, a licensed clinical mental health counselor, supervisor and owner of Pruden Counseling Concepts.
From psychotherapy resources to clubs, the following Black woman-owned wellness spaces have answered that call, offering their sisters of all ages a safe haven for community…and healing.
Black Girls Breathing
Founded in 2018 by Jasmine Marie, a trauma and grief-informed breathwork practitioner, Black Girls Breathing is a social impact organization that addresses the impact of trauma and anxiety through various therapeutic breathing practices to help support an individual’s mental, emotional and physical state. The group aims to strip down the many misconceptions that surround managing
one’s mental health, such as feeling alone and hesitating to discuss internal struggles, by utilizing a cross-functional, group-based structure in an environment that Marie says “feels warm, relatable and supportive.”
“Black people have always found healing in gathering,” Marie explains in an email to The Zoe Report. She refers to centuries-old African healing practices where people would come together for social and psychodynamic growth and support that restored the mind and body.
“I knew how powerful breathwork is and what it can do for my community, and I really wanted [Black females] to be able to access [it] in a personalized, customized way that is specific to their experience.”
Therapy for Black Girls
An online space promoting mental wellness for Black women and girls, Therapy for Black Girls lessens the stigma around mental health by encouraging therapy through social community networks. They offer helpful services such as connecting its members—virtually or in person by geographical area—so they never feel alone in their mental health journeys. They also provide directories of culturally responsive therapists to assist in all areas of addiction, depression and domestic and gender-based violence.
Black Girls Smile
A nonprofit that provides mental health education, resources and support geared toward young African-American females since 2012, Black Girls Smile Inc. features online blogs on various mental health topics that encourage Black girls to engage in awareness through volunteering and meaningful social media involvement.
The organization fills gaps in mental health outreach to female adolescents with programs in New York, Atlanta, Maryland, D.C. and Virginia, focused on identifying and dealing with the signs of anxiety and depression. They provide much-needed assistance in overcoming systemic barriers so that members get the help they need while teaching effective methods of self-care and how to communicate personal struggles to loved ones.
