Stigma In The Black Community Essay

Less than ten percent of mental health cases in the African American community gets reported to health center. However, that statistics does not cover the amount of people who suffer from these behind closed doors. There is a stigma place in the Black community, that if you seek or speak out about your mental Illness you are perceived as weak or less of a person. The question that have arose is where this stigma stemmed from. Through research, the most reoccurring explanation is that there is not enough mental health care centers in areas that black people are populated. However, the mistrust that is form for professionals in the health care field is not a well-known reason, but it is valid and true. This stigma prevents people facing these illnesses from receiving the treatment they need because they fear what their family members or the people around them are going to say or perceived them as. For example, when Kid Cudi took to twitter and expressed that he going through depression. In within the matter of seconds, people responded ridiculing him, and shaming him about only coming out because of a publicity stunt. This stigma does not just affect small amounts of people in the Black communities, it has a worldwide affect. …show more content…
In addition, they do not want to feel less advantaged than the others around. In the Behind Mental Health Stigmas interview between John Donvan and William Lawson, Donvan asserts, “They may not be aware of the symptoms of many mental disorders, or they may believe that to be mentally ill is a sign of weakness or a sign of a character fault.” (Donvan). Dovan and Lawson were discussing the mental stigma in the Black Community and this was the first reason they pin pointed to where the stigma came from. This reason is a valid and can be prove by using many other