The idea of May being a Mental Health Month started in 1949 with a great deal of support and encouragement from a man named Clifford Beers. He had experienced a mental illness and was hospitalized and eventually experienced recovery. In his book “A Mind that Found Itself”, his journey to wellness is recorded. At that time, he found mental health services lacking and needed improvement. The idea of mental health month was to increase awareness and offer information to the general public regarding mental health issues.

Why do you ask, is this still needed today, since one can hardly turn on the television or read a newspaper where someone is not discussing the issue of mental health, from government officials and political figures to athletes and actors, everyone seems to be discussing the issue of mental health. Has this increased understanding of mental health issues reached the African-American communities? A quick review of current statistics shows that a great deal of mental health support is needed in communities of color.

The African American community is 13.4% of the US population, and of that population, over 16% reported having a mental illness in the past year. That is over 7 million people. This number will increase if you add to that information from the past two years during the recent Covid pandemic; there has been an increase in the severity of depression and anxiety in these communities. We have seen an alarming rise in the rate of suicide and suicide attempts among African-American young men. This increase needs to be addressed immediately.

Since the pandemic, more people have been talking about mental health. An increasing number of people are starting to see it for what it is: A critical component of your overall health and well-being, just like your physical health issues. However, several people in communities of color feel that mental health resources and conversations are still challenging. The lack of essential services for mental health conditions often seems out of their reach.

Several factors influence the utilization of mental health services by the African-American community. Historical dehumanization, oppression, and violence against African-Americans have evolved into present-day structural, institutional, and individual racism. These issues have created a myriad of disparities, including poor access to care in the healthcare system. These disparities have been continually reported during the pandemic. Processing and dealing with layers of individual trauma along with continued news of mass trauma during the pandemic, including but not limited to police brutality, and the continuous media coverage of this brutality enhances the divisive political rhetoric that adds to these layers of trauma for African-American individuals who need to manage these issues daily.