For years, as the case went back and forth on appeal before ultimately being overturned, my mother suffered in silence, as she went head to head with the federal government. I was in the third or fourth grade when she finally lost her case, but she never spoke about it and I didn’t learn many of the details until I was in graduate school.
However, in my mother’s case and many others, stigma is an oversimplification of the mental health barriers facing people of color.
However, many of the barriers are more closely related to a lack of resources and access. Historically, therapy, mental health, and wellness have not been part of the conversation in Black households and if it’s not discussed openly, then seeking treatment isn’t a normal, accessible course of action. It’s one of the reasons why some of my Black patients will still ask if they should lie down on a couch or if we need to discuss their childhood during therapy.
Attributing everything to stigma is a disservice to those untreated Black patients because it implies an internal voice drove them away from treatment when it’s just as likely that the option was never available.
Even if a patient has the same social identity as their therapist or psychologist, they may not be the right person to treat them. For example, I’m a Black psychologist, but I don’t specialize in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, so if I’m treating a Black patient with that particular issue, another provider may be better equipped to help–but only if they have a real understanding of the unique cultural experiences and/or racial trauma that many in the community face.
While an understanding of racial trauma is crucial for every mental health provider, it shouldn’t be the sole focus of treatment. Don’t get me wrong: Racial trauma is still happening daily in Black communities, but with BLM and other advocacy groups raising awareness, mental health doesn’t always need to be discussed from this point of view.
Now that I’m a psychologist, my family talks about mental health all of the time. And when I talk to my mother now about the trauma she faced taking on the federal government, she often says, “I wish I knew then what I know now.”
She didn’t avoid the topic or suffer silently because of stigma. She simply didn’t have the resources or understanding to know that mental health treatment was a potential solution for the negative feelings she faced.
More than three decades later, the Black community deserves more.
Dr. Jessica Jackson is a licensed psychologist and global DEIB Care Lead for Modern Health, a leading workplace mental health platform supporting 300+ enterprises globally.
