4 Black Women Writers Get Honest About Mental Illness And Race [HuffingtonPost.com]

Corinna West posted:

This article might be retitled, "Four black women who identify with the disease model of emotional distress talk about problems with public views of the disease model."

Hey, there's more ways to look at mental health stuff as "illness." There is a social lens, peer support, resilience, or trauma lenses that explain emotional distress better and more scientifically. The vast majority of the public does not view emotional distress as an illness, and those who do see it as an illness are more judgemental.  Research attached.

This article is a continuation of Huffinton Post's one sided editorial selections to promulgate disease model propaganda. See this article for an explanation of that: http://www.madinamerica.com/20...the-huffington-post/

Corinna,

It is a great idea to pen an editorial about racial historical trauma and personal experiences with mental illness as a Black woman.  I can relate to both being a Black woman and dealing with the perpetual resilience required to function on a daily basis given the ongoing vicarious trauma from police violence and a majority public that is apathetic about accountability.   I don't see a benefit to critiquing the highly personalized contributions of these women who chose to be publicly vulnerable. 

If you decide to use either of the highlighted lenses from your original comment to pen an article about your relevant personal experiences or those of your Black female clients, please cross post it.   It is always healthy to add additional perspective to the valid perspectives being advanced in healing spaces.   With that in mind, if the Black woman perspective is not doable, I would be available to talk with you about co-authoring an editorial about historical/racial trauma and resilience in the context of police brutality that includes the autobiographical and informed white female and Black female perspective from either lens we can agree upon.

I enjoyed reading this article and will likely read it again.  I found the contributors' insights authentic and transparent.  Their deeply personal sharing was readily relatable in the context of the onslaught of police violence against men, women, and children of African descent.  And, more pointedly, in context of the consistent lack of accountability that can lead to a perpetual state of terror, unpredictability, and vigilance characteristic of trauma in general and historical/racial trauma in particular.

I'm surprised Bruce didn't note that D. J. Jaffe-formerly of NAMI's national board, is a "regular contributor" to Huffington Post blog....(who knows Jaffe's  relationship to the Editorial Board? ? ?)

This article might be retitled, "Four black women who identify with the disease model of emotional distress talk about problems with public views of the disease model."

Hey, there's more ways to look at mental health stuff as "illness." There is a social lens, peer support, resilience, or trauma lenses that explain emotional distress better and more scientifically. The vast majority of the public does not view emotional distress as an illness, and those who do see it as an illness are more judgemental.  Research attached.

This article is a continuation of Huffinton Post's one sided editorial selections to promulgate disease model propaganda. See this article for an explanation of that: http://www.madinamerica.com/20...the-huffington-post/