Why Blacks Must Educate Themselves About Mental Health Care

Jet, May 14, 2001

MENTAL illness can affect anyone. In fact, nearly one in five Americans suffer from some kind of mental disorder which can be successfully treated, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher revealed in his first-ever report on mental health in 1999.

Shame and difficulty paying for care, however, have kept millions of Americans from treatments that have proved effective. What's even more alarming is that, for those two reasons, two-thirds of the people who need help never seek treatment, including nearly half of those with severe mental illness.

May is Mental Health Month. For more than 50 years the National Mental Health Association has used this time to educate the American public about the importance of mental health and the reality of mental illness.

In an effort to raise the awareness of Blacks concerning the importance of seeking mental health care, JET interviewed several noted mental health experts and requested they address this serious medical concern.

For many people, getting mental health care is considered taboo. The stigma of being looked upon as "crazy" for going to see a "shrink" has kept millions from getting the help they so desperately need.

"Mental disorders are not character flaws, but legitimate illnesses that respond to specific treatments, just as other health conditions respond to medical interventions," Dr. Satcher told JET. "Just like things that go wrong with the heart, liver and kidney, things go wrong with the brain."

People with mental health problems and mental illness can live happier, more productive lives with the help of therapy and medication. When untreated, the most severely ill can end up homeless or criminals, and someone who begins sad can become clinically depressed and ultimately even suicidal.

"If untreated everybody suffers and pays the price. A person should first seek help and that can start with a primary care provider. If you don't get the response you need, go and ask for a referral or seek a second opinion," said Dr. Satcher.

Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Judge Baker Children's Center in Boston, and freelance journalist Amy Alexander know this all too well. The two coauthored Lay My Burden Down: Unraveling Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis among African-Americans, a book dedicated to their late brothers, Kenneth Poussaint and Carl Alexander, who both experienced years of mental illness and drug addiction before they committed suicide. Both men had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

"Nobody is superhuman," said Dr. Poussaint. "Everybody, nearly all people at times, may need help from a friend, from a counselor, from a therapist or someone when under periods of stress and strain. That's normal to need help. Many of us, if we didn't get it, wouldn't be able to cope."

Dr. Poussaint said that one way some cope is through self-medicating with substance abuse.

"They are trying to self-medicate the stress they feel, the anxiety they feel and the depression they feel," he said. "The drugs give them a sense of either relaxation or makes them feel happy, makes them feel energetic. If you stop the substance abuse, one of the most common things they suffer is depression and anxiety."

Dr. Jerome H. Hanley, director, Office of Child and Cultural Confidence Policy, the Center for Innovation in Public Mental Health in South Carolina, said it is imperative that the African-American community begin to take preventive health care measures for themselves.

"[Blacks] must understand that our emotional well-being is just as important as any other type of ill ness. [Blacks] don't seek assistance until the situation is very severe and the options for treatment are limited," said Dr. Hanley, also a professor at the University of South Carolina Medical School, Dept. of Psychiatry.

Depression has many different signs. "It can manifest itself in feeling sad, feeling like you don't have a future, anger, being alone, committing crime for no apparent reason, no energy, difficulty sleeping and sleeping too much," noted Dr. Hanley.

Difficulty paying for care should not deter people from seeking treatment, he said. "There are services offered through the public system paid for by Medicaid and other insurance companies. Where insurance is not offered, there is a sliding fee. The public sector is not in a position to turn anyone down."

Added Dr. Poussaint, "So many people don't have health insurance, but you can go to some local hospitals that give a certain percentage of free care."

WNBA star and Olympic gold-medallist Teresa Witherspoon is a spokesperson for the Minds in Motion Depression Awareness Campaign. The program, which works with Olympians, aims to destigmatize depression by showing that professional athletes--who represent pillars of mental and physical strength--can have depression just like anyone else.

Witherspoon, though not a depression sufferer herself, is a part of the program because close family and friends have suffered from depression.

"[Blacks] tend to feel as if we're invincible and strong people and we can get through [a mental illness] alone. We need to destigmatize that we don't need help or wonder that our friends will not see us as strong," she said.