Black Mental Health Matters

The Ultimate Guide for Mental Health Awareness in the Black Community.

Aaren Snyder

• Publisher: Mental Health Matters
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9780578665696
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

We’re now living in an era where it’s finally okay to talk about mental health. People all over the world are now unashamed to have open dialogues about their deepest, most personal insecurities and traumatic experiences.

It’s dope that the conversation surrounding mental health has elevated to a level so high that it’s become a mainstream topic. But even with that being said, the subject of black mental health, specifically, is one that is often overlooked.

Because of a legacy of oppression, black people have a unique relationship with trauma, depression, anxiety, as well as many other issues. Therefore, to truly understand black mental health, a unique education is required.

In Black Mental Health Matters, renowned Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Aaren Snyder uses years of experience to increase mental health awareness in the black community, through captivating real-life stories and simple, down-to-earth explanations of complex psychological problems that impact the black community. Snyder masterfully blends popular culture, social consciousness, and humor in this one-of-a-kind book.

Section III

Common Diagnosable
Mental Illnesses

In this section, I will touch on the most common mental illnesses that I’ve encountered in my career. When it comes to mental illnesses, the vast majority of people in general population (those who aren’t mental health professionals) only know about the most prevalent disorders such as major depressive disorder, which is usually just referred to as depression; generalized anxiety disorder, normally denoted simply as anxiety; or posttraumatic stress disorder, more commonly known as PTSD. But there are many other mental disorders that are just as common that the average person needs to be made aware of, as knowledge of them may save a life.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

“Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems.”

–Epictetus

Outside of major depressive disorder (which I will discuss later), generalized anxiety disorder is probably the mental illness I’ve seen most frequently in my career as a therapist. Most of the clients I’ve seen have some variation of anxiety because several mental illnesses include anxiety to some extent. But general anxiety, hence the term “generalized anxiety disorder,” is the most common.

What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), often simply referred to as “anxiety”, is a mental illness characterized by excessive worrying about a variety of different topics and situations. GAD goes beyond normal worrying that we all experience. GAD worrying is long lasting and intense and often happens without provocation. People with GAD tend to anticipate disaster about things such as money, health, work, and relationships. Some people with GAD know exactly what the source of their anxiety is, while others experience uneasiness and apprehension for no specific reason.

People with GAD can’t shake their concerns. They often report feeling like they’re taken hostage by their worries. Much of the time, they know their fears are unwarranted, but still can’t move past worrying, which makes their anxiety even more frustrating. GAD can be extremely nerve-wracking because there may not even be a “worry” per se that is causing the anxiety. Yet, the individual may still experience severe physical symptoms like muscle tension, fatigue, sweating, or a lump in the throat. Also, GAD causes many people not to get much sleep—if any at all. But, for some, anxiety causes fatigue, thus an increased need for sleep. Some people dread the physical symptoms of GAD more than the psychological symptoms.

I Can’t Stand This Feeling

Many studies demonstrate that people with anxiety develop anxiety sensitivity, which is basically a fear of the physical symptoms of anxiety. Many GAD sufferers report fearing chest tightness, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations. People have told me they literally thought they were going to die when experiencing these symptoms because it seemed like they were having a heart attack or a stroke. Most people who develop anxiety sensitivity dread it so much that they try to avoid it at all costs, which never works.

The technical name for this phenomenon is called a panic attack (also known as an anxiety attack). When panic attacks occur repeatedly, or one experiences frequent worrying about potentially having a panic attack, he or she is diagnosed with panic attack disorder, which is closely related, but is a separate illness from GAD.

Is Generalized Anxiety the Same as Fear?

Anxiety is different from typical fear. Fear is a basic response to a situation, specific object, or circumstance that involves the perception of actual or perceived danger. People experience fear all the time. It’s actually normal to have fear at times, like before a fistfight or during a roller coaster ride. Fear is usually a temporary feeling that is situational, or a peripheral thought in the back of our minds. Anxiety is much more insidious. Anxiety is generally based, initially, on fear, but extends into an intense preoccupation with a troubling thought that crosses the boundary of normal fear and shifts into an abnormal sense of uneasiness that is persistent and much more distressing than a temporary or situational discomfort such as fear.

Anxiety is almost always based on future events. It’s driven by “what if?” thoughts. We don’t get anxious about things that have already happened. Anxiety comes from the unknown and future adverse situations or catastrophes. People with anxiety get caught up in thoughts like What if my mind goes blank during my final exam? What if I miss that important deadline at work? What if I’m not able to find someone to love me? What if something bad happens to my kids at school? What if I get sick? The main problem in GAD is that we tend to overestimate the likelihood and intensity of danger.

Catastrophic Thinking

GAD causes people to be continuously on edge, always expecting the worse of nearly every situation. This sort of thinking is called catastrophizing. When anxious, we tend to catastrophize about seemingly ordinary situations; we think the worst-case scenario is much more likely to happen than it actually is. For example, having an unexpected meeting with your boss, you might think I’ll probably be told that I’m doing a terrible job. I’m going to get fired, and I’ll be so anxious during the meeting my boss will probably wonder what’s wrong with me. While this worst-case scenario is certainly possible, a person with GAD disproportionately predicts this outcome and underestimates their ability to manage the situation if it were actually to happen. In other words, they overestimate the likelihood of catastrophes and underestimate their ability to cope with them.

Anxiety causes people to think in irrational ways. Most of the time, irrational thinking is used to protect us from potential danger. Because we are creatures of habit, we repeatedly do what we think works for us. Unfortunately, irrational thoughts are usually unhelpful, and eventually become a pattern of thinking, which we use to keep us “safe,” or at least we think it keeps us safe.

One of the most common irrational thinking patterns used is intolerance of uncertainty. People who think this way tend to have negative reactions to unpredictable or uncontrollable circumstances or events. They always need to know what’s next. Anxious people prefer routines and cannot tolerate even a slight bit of uncertainty.

The problem with this sort of thinking is that many things will cause uneasiness because the thoughts are future-focused, and there is no possible way to predict the future with the absolute certainty they need. One common uncertainty intolerance is about physical health. People with GAD want to be sure, without a doubt, that they won’t get sick. But no one is unequivocally ce...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Section I: What is Mental Health, and Why Does it Matter?
• Myths about Mental Illness and Mental Health Treatment
• Section II: Issues that Increase the Risk for Developing a Mental Health Disorder
• Section III: Common Diagnosable Mental Illnesses
• Endnotes