The Growing Mental Health Crisis Among African American Youth
Post Contributed by ASAP Member, Chad J. Lennon, M.D.
Staff Psychiatrist, Meadows (Co-Ed Adolescent Unit)
Sheppard Pratt Health Systems
Baltimore/Washington Campus
Which one of these statistics scares you more?
According to Associated Press, about 3 in 10 Black men under the age of 45 voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election, roughly double the number who voted for him in 2020.
According to the CDC, the death rate from suicide among Black males was more than four times higher than for Black females in 2020.
According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the rates of suicide among Black youth have risen faster than in any other racial/ethnic group in the past two decades, with suicide rates in Black males 10-19 years-old increasing by 60%.
As a psychiatrist, suicide attempts are an issue I work to prevent. Seeing the last two statistics lead me to worry about the difficulty of my job. Furthermore, as a black male psychiatrist, I worry about the difficulty of my community. After the exit polls of the most recent election, pundits were talking about the degree to which political messaging was branded toward Black men or not. However, the far greater concern not addressed in the media relates to what needs to be done in communities to decrease the mental health crisis, in particular the increasing suicide rates, among Black males.
“Psychology Today”’s Dr. Sue Varma references “The Four M’s of Mental Health”:
Meaningful Connection: With only 3% of physicians in the USA being Black men, it can be hard for a Black male to connect to a professional in regard to their physical health. It is just as hard to find that connection for one’s mental health, as only 4% of USA psychologists and 2% of psychiatrists are African American. The statistics are obvious barriers in accessing that meaningful connection.
Mastery: Being able to learn ways to manage one’s emotions is very important to managing one’s mental health. Because of the stigma regarding having “feelings” within the Black community, especially among Black men, few Black boys are raised with fathers that could teach them and model how to master emotions. Therefore, they have no reference as to how to manage strong or painful emotions well.
Mindfulness: Dr. Varma states that “being mindful of our emotions helps us differentiate between what is and what is not in our control.” With many black men living in a society in which the economics and racism have made it difficult to find any level of security or control, mindfulness can be a hard state to achieve.
Movement: Lastly, as Dr. Varma states, “movement involves both physical and mental activity to help manage our stress.” As stated before, many Black males lack everyday male role models so have no reference to help with learning how to manage stress.
Because Black boys and men face such a deficit, we as mental health professionals must work more to close the gap! I implore all of us to look to decrease the stigma of mental health in the Black community. I encourage everyone reading this to look for opportunities to learn more about this crisis and look to any resources to help Black males get effective mental health help. Here are some great resources with which to begin:
“The Invisible Ache” by Courtney B. Vance & Robin L. Smith (2023)
Cited:
Thank you, Dr. Lennon, for this post. The citations in particularly are very important for everyone to read as they speak directly to the lack of agency that Black men feel (they make less money, they see less representation that looks like them, they have fewer mental health resources). I think it is also important to highlight that the highest suicide rates per population are in the American Indian and Alaskan Native population; wherein suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in this population. Trauma, systemic barriers to health care, and discrimination are only a few things that the Black population and American Indiana/Alaskan Native population share in common that may be at the root of suicide.