TW: suicide, depression, trauma

This month is mental health awareness month. I think it's super crucial to highlight mental illness in the black community since for us there's even more of a stigma if we come forward about it compared to any other race. (1/20)

In the black community, seeking help and wanting to go to therapy is a taboo (and still is). To black people, going to therapy is either a "yt thing" or it's a sign of weakness (or both). From experience, (Ghanaian family) black folks believe that having mental illness and (2/20)

coming forward will damage your future. They believe that seeking help is like the inhumane mental insitutions portrayed on tv, when in reality they've involved so much and not like it was back in the day. If you try to come forward to (3/20)

family then most of the time they tend to dismiss it, tell you not to be "weak" and not give you the proper help. Some believe that oh it's just the devil and you just have to pray it away. They worry so much about you wanting to be "normal" and their reputation over (4/20)

their child's mental health. We're not blessed with the access to the proper help at young ages. There's so many reasons why most of us don't get the help compared to our yt peers (can't afford, generational/cultural differences, religion, etc) (5/20)

And even when we speak up to our friends/non-family members, our feelings still get dismissed and people tend to tell us how we should feel. And it's even like this in the health care field. (6/20)

When we do come out for any health related issues (even mental health) to doctors, our concerns get undermined. It's because of the stupid stereotype of black people being the "strong" ones who can handle anything. They think we're overreacting, when we're not (7/20)

and it's actually killing us. But if it's yt people coming forward then that's when everyone immediately takes it seriously. For us we have to keep pushing until it's too late.. There's so many studies that can back this up. In fact black kids are more likely to get in (8/20)

trouble for acting out (even get arrested) & not have access to the proper care than their yt peers for doing the same thing. In fact there's a shit ton of studies that shows that teachers treat black kids differently and don't show compassion like their yt students (9/20)

because in their eyes black kids are "grown" so they don't need help. Police officers are more likely to hand cuff black kids for stupid shit in a heartbeat and make them go through such trama. There were many times that cops mistaken black kids as (10/20)

the adults that they're looking for. This affects them for the rest of their lives. Black kids go through so much abuse and trauma, but not many come forward with it. Because of this they're easier targets for abuse & (11/20)

the perpetrators always get away with it. Everyone can get mental illness. It doesn't discriminate. But black folks are more likely to not get access to help and more likely to commit suicide or do drastic shit to cope because folks don't give a fuck about us. People (12/20)

always assume that we're strong because we're black. "friends" don't bother to check up on us. It's like that for me & still to this day. I got depression as a result of the bullying & the years of trauma I went through. Everyone, even my family dismissed my concerns (13/20)

because I'm suppose to be the strong one. Even a close family member who worked at a hospital for over 20 years shrugged my concerns aside. "Friends" didn't take it seriously and thought I was exaggerating. Teachers punished me instead of trying to figure out "why". Even (14/20)

when I was slowly opening myself here, some of y'all tend to tell me how I should feel & try to "debunk" my conerns. Most of y'all are guilty of dismissing my feelings because in your eyes I'm suppose to be the "strong queen black cosplayer". Yes I have a right to be (15/20)

angry. All black people have this right with how the world treats us. I've had thoughts of attempting for years. There were plenty of times that I swallowed pills, but instead of dying I either got sick or nothing happened. My family didn't notice. My so called friends (16/20)

Didn't notice. No one cared. Until back in September when my mom saw me swallowing the pills and trying to take my own life.. That's when I decided to call 911 & finally get some help. I got properly diagnosed with Depression. I'm finally seeing a therapist & still speak (17/20)

to her, but this should've happened years ago. I think my life would've been a whole lot better, but I'm glad that now I'm getting help. Mental health within the black community needs to be addressed and taken seriously. So many folks, society and the (18/20)

system failed us. It needs to be talked more so that something can be done immediately and not wait until it's too late. To all of my fellow black folks going through shit: you're not alone. You're not weak for wanting to get better. You do not deserve to be dismissed. (19/20)

Your feelings are valid! You matter! Black Mental Health Matters! (20/20)