Imagine that you have a son who is scared of cellphones because he thinks using them will kill him. Anytime he sees you using one, he freaks out. He doesn’t sleep at night and refuses to eat; so you have to constantly persuade him that nothing will happen to him if he does. This cycle repeats itself several times over a given week, at the end of which you find yourself severely sleep-deprived. You want to seek help, but if you disclose this information to your friends and family, you worry they will ostracize your son. And so you sit in silence.
Scenarios like this play out every day in many families, including mine. We had no idea where to turn when one of my relatives began showing signs of schizophrenia, which only intensified each day. At first, we consulted friends we thought knowledgeable about the disorder. They shared the information with others and some of our closest friends began distancing themselves from us. The mental fatigue of supporting our relative, while dealing with the stigmatization from our own community, became overwhelming and traumatizing.
Like many Black people in times of despair, we turned to prayer to cope. Some of the family refused to talk about it, and, unfortunately, we did not seek professional help right away. This is not unusual in the Black community, where a mental disorder is often perceived as a weakness of the mind and a taboo topic. As subscribers to this false perception, my family also suffered in silence until the family member’s symptoms became too severe. We finally took him for professional help. He was given medication that, after months, resulted in significant improvement in his behavior. He had far fewer delusions and hallucinations, and, for the first time in a long time, he was able to sleep in peace.
As with many mental disorders, early intervention can reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia, and family involvement can also help with treatment. On the other hand, a delayed intervention can make it harder for treatment to have the most effective results. In my family’s case, some of the reasons for our delayed intervention were social ostracizing and lack of support from friends. In order to avoid this, the Black community needs to debunk the myth of mental illness as a result of a “weak mind.”
More than ever, it is imperative that we dismantle the misperception of mental disorders, as we are in a pandemic when people are more isolated and more people are experiencing mental health complications. In May, reports showed a 1,000% increase in texts to the federal mental health hotline. It is more essential than ever that those who are suffering from a disorder get the necessary help they need. We don’t know how many people are at home battling with mental health issues alone.
We also need to work on building trust between Black patients and mental health practitioners. One study found that while the symptoms of schizophrenia do not vary by ethnicity, many Black people experience “more adverse contacts with services later in the course of illness.” This may make African Americans less comfortable and less likely to seek out professional help. There is also a lack of mental health resources geared specifically for Black people, even though Black adults are 20% more likely to have mental health problems than white adults, according to Columbia University research.
These factors add to the reluctance Black people have about discussing and seeking help. By addressing the negative perceptions of mental health, we can start removing obstacles that are hurting treatment. We can start with incorporating community seminars or town halls that help educate people on how to properly deal with mental disorders. Primary care doctors should talk with all of their patients about mental health disorders, and physicians should also be mandated to attend racial bias training that teaches them how not to ostracize their Black patients. Culturally, mainstream media such as television can also play a role in helping debunk the negative stigmas associated with mental health.
With these measures, we can hope that the mother of a boy suffering from schizophrenia does not have to sit in silence and watch her son suffer. More importantly, she would be encouraged and won’t be afraid to reach out for help.
Abigail Boateng (ab3593@georgetown.edu) is a junior at Georgetown University studying psychology who lives in Hyattsville.