THE EFFECTS

Due to the stigma around Black women’s mental health, a lack of representation in the field, injustices against Black women and girls in the medical field, and the overall hardships of being a Black woman and girl in America, Black women are suffering in silence. The stigma and stereotypes around Black women’s mental health result in higher rates of neglect, misdiagnosis, and a lack of resources and research in the mental health field in comparison to other groups. Furthermore, Black women are less likely to accept help, therapy, or medication than their white counterparts. This stigma is also the cause of the mental health disorders themselves. According to a 2018 study published in Sex Roles, "Studies indicate that the belief that Black women are naturally strong and self-sacrificing is associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms in African American women in the United States." However, the creation of these stigmas and the Black woman’s hesitance around having open and honest pursuits of mental health journeys through the medical field are not unfounded. In an article for the Psychiatric Time Dr. Erica Richards, MD, Ph.D., details the fact that “Black clinicians represent only about 2% of practicing psychiatrists and 4% of psychologists providing care,” highlighting that less representation also can hinder performance. Furthermore, the healthcare community has exploited and abused Black people for so many years that there is a lack of trust in receiving treatments and participating in trials that prevent people from receiving the treatment they need out of fear. 

Another cause for these harmful cycles and the creation of these disorders is racism, adultification, and hypersexualization. Due to racism and racialized violence, black people, in general, are at a greater risk for depression, anxiety, stress, self-harming, unhealthy and dangerous coping mechanisms, and self-sabotage. The adultification, hypersexualization of and sexual violence against black girls can corrupt the image they have of themselves and who they think they are supposed to be. This reality can lead to identity crises and internalizing disorders which are all issues that have contributed to the alarming rise in suicide rates for Black girls. Without proper conversation and action against these issues, Black girls carry these struggles into womanhood where they fester and become more intense. Below are statistics about the gravity of this issue: