Willow Weep for Me: A Black Women’s Journey through Depression
In the book Willow Weep for Me, Danquah (1998), who is a Ghanian-born immigrant and single mother, describes her episodes with clinical depression. As a writer and a poet, she discusses the experiences that lead to her mental illness, such as family, culture, abuse, abandonment and poverty. In addition, she explains the costs of living with depression, including: unhealthy relationships, broken friendships, an unfinished college education and broken careers. Her memoir speaks about the experiences that many African American women who suffer with clinical depression face in their communities and with mental health professionals.
Danquah (1998) gave many examples throughout her book which highlighted her path down depression. Her parents divorced when she was a child, which left her with feelings of rage and abandonment. In addition, she experienced racism, microaggressions, sexual and psychical abuse, poverty and rejection as an adolescence and adult, which fed her insecurities, but fueled her need for love, respect and humane treatment.
She explains throughout her book the abandonment that she felt after her father left them. She expresses that she would call her father and yell and cuss at him when she was an adolescent and how difficult it was for her mother to …show more content…
Although she saw many therapists and tried different medications, she was not cured, nor will she ever be. This reminds me of Marya Hornbacher’s (1998) experience with an eating disorder. Hornbacher (1998) argues that there is no pill, therapy, food or endless support from friends and family, “you fix it yourself” (p. 237, 1998); that it is a low movement from sick to “mostly well”. She states, “The illusion of time is that it heals all wounds, but the ones that have not been attended to only foster” (Danquah, p. 120,
In the book Willow Weep for Me, Danquah (1998), who is a Ghanian-born immigrant and single mother, describes her episodes with clinical depression. As a writer and a poet, she discusses the experiences that lead to her mental illness, such as family, culture, abuse, abandonment and poverty. In addition, she explains the costs of living with depression, including: unhealthy relationships, broken friendships, an unfinished college education and broken careers. Her memoir speaks about the experiences that many African American women who suffer with clinical depression face in their communities and with mental health professionals.
Danquah (1998) gave many examples throughout her book which highlighted her path down depression. Her parents divorced when she was a child, which left her with feelings of rage and abandonment. In addition, she experienced racism, microaggressions, sexual and psychical abuse, poverty and rejection as an adolescence and adult, which fed her insecurities, but fueled her need for love, respect and humane treatment.
She explains throughout her book the abandonment that she felt after her father left them. She expresses that she would call her father and yell and cuss at him when she was an adolescent and how difficult it was for her mother to …show more content…
Although she saw many therapists and tried different medications, she was not cured, nor will she ever be. This reminds me of Marya Hornbacher’s (1998) experience with an eating disorder. Hornbacher (1998) argues that there is no pill, therapy, food or endless support from friends and family, “you fix it yourself” (p. 237, 1998); that it is a low movement from sick to “mostly well”. She states, “The illusion of time is that it heals all wounds, but the ones that have not been attended to only foster” (Danquah, p. 120,