What is Depression? An Introduction to how Depression directly relates to African American women

Depression is a mental illness that's very prevalent in the African American community.  Do you know what depression is and what it looks like in our community?  It's more than just having a bad day.  It's more than a sad feeling.  It is a serious illness with major side effects.  

According to psychiatry.org Depression is defined as:

Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act.  Depression causes feeling of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed.  It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease a person's ability to function at work and at home.

There are a few words and phrases that I highlighted in the definition of depression taken from the psychiatry.org website. The first word that jumped out at me was "disorder".  To have a disorder is to be in a state of confusion.  One thing that I noticed while dealing with depression is that a lot of times I would not be able to identify how I was feeling.  I would be okay one minute and then the next minute I would be crying.  One minute I would be okay and then the next minute something would happen and then I would be filled with a feeling or rage. And all of this would be happening and I could not explain to you why.  

Sometimes our mental state can be in so much pain until there is a numbness.  

Have you ever been in a bad accident or experienced a trauma so bad that you couldn't feel anything?  That's an example of what's happening to us mentally sometimes.  Sometimes we experience great traumas in our lives and it is so terrible that we are left numb in our emotions.

According to psychiatry.org depression "negatively affects the way you feel, think, and act."  Because our mental states has so much to do with the way we feel, which changes the way we think and therefore changes the way we act, it is imperative that we take it seriously.  Within the African American community there is hardly any talk of getting help mentally.  We often times will stay on top of regular scheduled check-ups for our physical bodies.  We will also maintain an awesome relationship with God and attend church regularly ensuring that our spiritual self is well, but we often neglect to get check-ups for our mental health.  This is needed just as much, if not more, to ensure that we stay healthy physically and spiritually.  If we are not "okay" or healthy in our minds we cannot stay healthy in our bodies and our spiritual lives.  These things are all connected.  

As African Americans we are often facing great challenges.  Challenges that no other race in America has to face.  As African American women we are often expected to place our self-care on the back burner for the sake of other things and other people-- children, family, friends, spouses, significant others, jobs, achieving success, making money, maintaining our outward appearance--this is not healthy nor is it helping us in the long run. 

According to NAMI.org Depression is defined as:

Depressive disorder, frequently referred to simply as depression, is more than just feeling sad or going through a rough patch.  It's a serious mental health condition that requires understanding and medical care.  Left untreated, depression can be devastating for those who have it and their families.

Now, Nami.org (National Alliance on Mental Illness) states that Depression is "more than just feeling sad".  This is the point I would like to raise using their definition:  There is a huge difference between I'm having a bad day, or I'm just sad today and depression!  Depression changes you!  You are so confused in your emotions on a daily basis that your behavior has drastically changed.  You are not yourself!  You begin to do things that you've never done before.  It's very noticeable if we take the time to really look.  Sometimes friends and family will notice and ask you about it but sometimes because you are so numb you won't recognize it.  You have to really take time to investigate your feelings and unscramble your thoughts.  This is not something you want to do alone.

Think about it, when you break a bone, you don't just go to church.  You don't just pray.  You don't just talk to a friend or go to your mommy.  You go to a professional.  You go to a doctor.  

When we have traumatic experiences we have to go get a check up for our mental wellness.

Nami.org goes on to say that " Depression...left untreated, can be devastating for those who have it and their families. The people around us feel the effects of our mental instability. As African Americans it can be very easy to dismiss this (depression and other mental illness) as something not necessary for life, but I beg to differ.  I state to you that your mental health is just as important as your physical health and your spiritual health. 

 Even our physical health requires check ups and we attend church regularly to ensure that we are in right standing with God.  Our mental health requires regularly scheduled check-ups!  It's mandatory for the African-American. We are not healthy mentally!  We are often the victims of violence, and witness it often within our communities and race. Domestic violence is very prominent in many relationships in the Black community.  

Abuse comes in many forms- physical, verbal, sexual, financial-- and it is also an issue in a lot of our homes.  A lot of African Americans are suffering from PTSD. Our children are suffering tremendously mentally.  They as well should receive regularly scheduled check ups.  Especially if their behavior changes dramatically.  We trust our doctors with their physical bodies, and we should also trust psychiatrist, counselors to ensure that we are healthy mentally.

According to NIMH.org Depression is defined as:

Depression (major depressive disorder or clinical depression) is a common but serious mood disorder.  It causes severe symptoms that affect how you feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, or working.  

What are mood disorders? 

Mood disorders are a category of illnesses that describe a serious change in mood.  Illness under mood disorders include: major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder (mania-euphoric, hyperactive, over inflated ego, unrealistic optimism), persistent depressive disorder (long lasting low grade depression), cyclothymia (a mild form of bipolar disorder), and SAD (seasonal affective disorder).

Ladies, this is a huge topic for us to discuss.  We are often called "moody."  This is not always due to our menstrual cycle.  Sometimes this can be from a disorder.  And what is a disorder?  A disorder as we've previously discussed, is confusion.  Our moods are confused.  This sometimes causes us to lash out or be extra sad and sensitive.  This is what causes us to cry all the time, or feel tired and uninspired in our lives.  We sometimes go on the "highs" (mania) filled with inspiration and zest and then all of a sudden we experience this sudden drop, its a "low"(euphoric).  During this time we become tired and lazy.  We don't really want to do anything, including the things that we love and normally do.  Some of these things are spending time with family, going out to social events including church.  During these times we often lose jobs, friends, end relationships, switch churches, get behind on bills, drop out of school and just simply give up on commitments made during our mania moments.  And these disorder are very tricky.  Some of theses waves of moods last days, weeks, months and years.  You can go a length of time in a mania stage and then go a different length of time on a low wave.  This is why seeing a therapist or counselor is important.  They can help you find out why you're experiencing the extreme levels of moods.  

Many people may read this article and laugh and say, "it's not that serious" or "I'll just pray" or some may even say, " I have my friends and family as my support system" and to that I say, It is not enough!  It is very serious.  Prayer is great, but it's not enough.  You don't just pray for a broken leg.  You pray and then you go to a doctor for their professional help. The same goes with our mental health.  You are not capable of fixing your own bones when they break.  You rely on a doctor to take x-ray's and interpret the information and then to properly diagnose and treat.  We are going through major life changes and witnessing traumatic events daily and we NEVER get help!   In the African American community there are some of us are walking around on crutches trying to help carry someone else's baggage. As women we are caregivers and its very easy for us to put our emotional needs to the side for our families but we are no help to them when we are unhealthy mentally.  

Some of us have experienced loss in a great way.  Some of us have endured years of mental, emotional and physical abuse.  It is during these times that a counselor or therapist is needed most.  When we are experiencing other major events in our life such as break-ups, fall-outs, financial crisis, any encounter with violence or sexual assault we need to seek help.  Some of our children have been molested for years.  They have no one to talk to that can help them navigate through their emotions, fears, disappointments and everything else that comes with experiencing that kind of pain.   A counselor can help them get through that with as little scarring as possible.  

References:

Mood Disorders. (2015, July 09). Retrieved November 01, 2017, from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/mood-disorders

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression/index.shtml

https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression

“NAMI.”NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness, www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions/Depression.