Rapper Isaiah Rashad (photo: Genius)
Welcome to another round of Mental Health Monday, your weekly dose of stories, resources, and motivation for your everyday life. On last week's Mental Health Monday, we covered vanity as a form of self-care, ways to calm anxiety, a story from a woman who hates therapy. and Black celebs who've been public with their mental and emotional challenges. Check it out here.
Also today on Mental Health Monday: "On Taking Mental Health Days" by Jamond Coaston-Foree
TODAY'S GOODNESS
"Why Black Men Need To Speak Out About Depression" by Lenox Magee [SlayTV]
Dr. David Malebranche reported to Newsone.com that, an internist and primary care physician at the University of Pennsylvania, has treated the issue of depression among Black men and agrees that it is largely under diagnosed and that’s because so many of us won’t open up about our feelings.
"Don’t Forget To Check On Your Strong Friend" by Kiara Imani Williams, Esq. [HuffPost]
When is the last time you checked on your strong friend? Your parents? Your mentor? Your pastor? Your life coach? Your professor? The people in your life fill two distinct roles ― fruit pickers and fertilizers. Fruit pickers require you to give of yourself. Fertilizers renew your spirits.
"Isaiah Rashad Speaks On Mental Health: “Don’t Go Through The Problems In Your Head Alone”" by Michelle Kim [Fader]
"Don't go through the problems in your head alone," Rashad writes. "There's nothing wrong with asking for help. The worst thing to do is think ur alone in it."
What if we talked about mental health the same way we talked about the rest of our body?
"Genuinely helpful tips for dealing with anxiety I’ve learnt through CBT" by Ellen Scott [Metro UK]
3. Ask yourself how you’d talk to a friend in the same situation
Anxious people tend to be hard on themselves.
We tell ourselves we’re sh*t, we catastrophise, and we never give ourselves the same level on understanding we’d give a friend.
When you’re facing a problem or your brain’s telling you nasty stuff, ask yourself how you’d respond if a friend was saying what your mind is telling you.
"Could an APP help fight depression? World's first mental health chatbot decreases symptoms two times faster than traditional therapy" [Daily Mail]
It runs through Facebook Messenger, and acts as a personal therapist to help address users' mental health challenges, including depression and anxiety.
Within the chat, Woebot uses artificial intelligence to create natural, personalised and human-like conversations and offer emotional support to users.
"Pikangikum First Nation Suicide Crisis Prompts Funding For 20 Mental Health Workers"
Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins is announcing funding for 20 full-time mental health workers for Pikangikum First Nation — a remote community struggling with a suicide crisis and pressing mental health needs from about 380 people seeking counselling.
The mental health workers will be going to the reserve, located near the Ontario and Manitoba border, immediately at a cost of about $1.6 million dollars, Hoskins said.
"Mental Illness Is Far More Common Than We Knew" by Aaron Reuben, Jonathan Schaefer [Scientific American]
We found that if you follow people over time, and screen them regularly using simple, evidence-based tools, the percentage of people who develop a diagnosable mental illness at any point in their lives jumps to well over 80 percent. In our cohort only 17 percent of study members did not develop a disorder, at least briefly, by middle age. Because we can’t be certain these individuals remained disorder-free in the years between assessments, the true proportion that never experienced a mental illness may be even smaller.
Are you a Black mental health professional? Do you know one? Alex is building a hub for Black wellness. Learn how you can be down.
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