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Depression Among Black Women

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Many people think that Black Women don’t suffer from mental health problems. The rates of mental health problems among black women are significantly higher than average because of psychological factors that result directly from their experiences as Black Americans. (Leary) These Experiences include Racism, Cultural Alienation and Domestic Violence
Many people in the African American community see mental health problems as being lazy or just making excuses for failing. To some, seeking professional help is admitting that you are crazy. The history of the African American survival from slavery to the overcoming of racism, and economic oppression play a large part in fueling the myth that says African Americans don’t fall apart. The image of the “strong black woman” as represented by historical figures is still real in African American …show more content…
Racism in the work place still exists because black women are at the bottom of the list when it comes to them being treated with equality and fairness at work. A black woman may be OVER qualified for a job and will still be overlooked for the position. For example My Aunt works for the city of Albany and she along with several others applied for an open position. My aunt, who was over qualified for the job, did great in all the interviews for the position and was overlooked for the job to a white guy that wasn’t qualified but because he had seniority he was offered the job. The white guy accepted the job position and was demoted shortly after because he couldn’t meet the requirements the of the job description. My aunt was then offered the job and she accepted it, but before the guy lost his job my aunt had begun to stress about why she didn’t get the job and how she could have answered the questions in the interview differently so she could have got the job. Her worrying led to her becoming stressed and her stress soon led to her becoming

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