The negative impact and consequences that systemic racism wields on the human condition can be seen in obvious ways. One only has to look around them and see the gross disparities when it comes to educational achievement, employment, quality of housing, and other living conditions between white Americans and other minorities, especially blacks.
Less obvious are the other insidious and often unspoken acute and chronic health consequences that systemic racism breeds among racial minorities and ethnic groups.
Inarguably, one’s health is the greatest asset he or she can possess. How many countless times have you witnessed or heard those with wealth or position lamenting that they would willingly trade it all to regain good health.
So how tragic it is that aside from the socio-economic, educational, and other environmental tolls racism takes on its victim, study results are confirming that racism is claiming, perhaps, the greatest toll of all on its victims – their mental and physical well-bring. Especially, its black victims.
Results from just study in 2011 (others have followed), and published in the online Journal of Psychology Counseling,found that experiencing racism has similar negative effects on mental health of black adults in the United States – and in many instances subsequent physical health conditions – as with some major trauma. This particular study analyzed the findings of 66 previous studies that looked at more than 18,000 black adults, which showed common conditions that occur as a result of experiencing racism and trauma.
Those conditions include psychological distress that is expressed as physical pain, depression, and higher rates of hypertension, which leads to strokes, heart disease, diabetes and other concomitant illnesses.
The study goes on to suggest that the link between mental health and racism does not only contribute to the physical health disparities between blacks and whites, but also other Americans of different races and ethnicities.
The study concludes that it is critical that mental health providers must include as a part of their therapeutic routine and treatment an assessment of their black patients' experiences with racism.
The scourge of racism can be compared to cancer with its negative and potentially deadly affect on those who are subjected to it repeatedly, at a sustained level or as a way of life.
If it were not enough for us as a society to work toward eradicating racism because of its obvious negative effects when it comes to education, employment, housing, etc., now that it has been confirmed that it erodes mental and physical health as well, how much more are we willing to pay to allow it to continue?
What will it take to show that racism is one of the greatest threats to health and the well-being of contemporary society?
Improving understanding across race, ethnicities, and race relation should be high on our national agenda.
Comments
Being a different color is
Being a different color is not the thing that led to the problem of colored people having mental and physical health problems. It was the racism that those people went through. The people that were being rude and being racist were the ones causing the mental and physical health problems. These black people in the study were not having these problems because they were just black, they were having these problems people some ignorant person thinks it's okay to judge someone based off their skin tone.
Agree
I completely agree with you that discrimination could be compared to bullying but unfortunately discrimination is a form of bullying that takes place on a macro level and it is much harder to get rid of than to stop one bully from tormenting another person. I do however think that both issues need to be addressed in the same manner: the source needs to be identified first! In society's case, the source is in many areas. The education program, economy, job market, almost every institution that I can think of can somehow be linked back to discrimination. The real question though, is how do we go about solving this problem? Which source do we attack first?
Although what you're saying
Although what you're saying makes sense, I think we also have to realize that people react differently. Some people just cannot handle things the same way as others. And some people are hurt by specific things more than other things. We have to be sensitive to the needs of others.
o i agree that we should be
o i agree that we should be sensitive to others. and that is where it comes that those who cannot do are fought for by those that can fight. those that are willing, have the desire, and the willpower to fight should and do fight not only for themselves, but those who cannot. those that do react differently, whether it be depression or some other negative way are looked after whether they know it or not. i like to believe that when people are fighting for their rights they are also fighting for the rights of the person next to them.
agreed
i agree with the above comment, yes there will always be people that don't like you and there will always be people that you don't like. learning how to deal with the stresses of being a victim of racism should definitely be taught and the learn effective ways on how to ignore things that that.
I am not surprised
I am not surprised at all to see that racism has not only psychological but physical tole on a person. If the roles were reversed in any manner that a person would become depressed and some what ill. That is why inmates at a prison have showed signs of depression and have growing anger problems. These men are put in a cage for years on end only allowed to see the sky for an hour a day (for the inmates in solitary confinement). Everyone wonders why inmates sometimes become worse criminals than when they first went to prison. This is what racism has done to African Americans, the US was so tough and violent to blacks that when black people started to fight back against oppression, the white America was shocked to see this. How can we be shocked about this? Shocked that still today we battle racism and hatred between races, white Americans see African American people as violent still. Black people aren't violent by nature, they just aren't going to take people's shit anymore. I agree, if someone consistently saw me as the color of my skin and treated me like I was dangerous, I would start to get annoyed then get even more mad.
One question that I draw from
One question that I draw from this research is how do you measure stress from racism in a scientific lab? Do some people receive more stress from racism from others? What races are discriminating against the black population? I would have liked to see more of the data and less of the interpretation in this piece, but I understand why the author offered their interpretation. Without scrutiny and interpretation, data means nothing to us.
Good questions! I think that
Good questions! I think that some people will definitely receive more stress than others. Different people do react differently than others, no doubt about it. I also like your question, "What races are discriminating against the black population?" I think most people will jump to conclusions and say the white population simply because of history. But when you jump to conclusions like that, you can push the blame on innocent people. Did the article mention what percent of the black population actually felt discriminated? I would like to see numbers there, too.
I wish the author of this
I wish the author of this piece would put a link to the study in the article. There are just far too many concerns I have and too many unanswered questions for any reasonable conclusions to be drawn on the research.
i think we have all the
i think we have all the reason to make sure that, the time is now to make an end of racism because we see how minority, especially blacks are suffering and are given less priority of their social well-being which leads even the arousal of diseases and other disaster as we have seen from the above topic, so equality is needed and we have to make sure that everyone who has the right to access those services such as employment opportunity.education achievement, good housing,employment, health services and all the social well being is given. and not to give priority on a certain group of people.
I think it's always been a
I think it's always been a known fact that racism and well any other kinds of mistreatment eventually have a negative psychological impact on one's well-being. For instance, when a child gets bullied in school, he/she develops habits like cutting themselves or even eating disorders, which are obviously psychological problems. Which infact means that racism, being a sort of bullying on its own twisted extreme level has had the same consequences. But i do understand the need for proven research results to develop awareness to individuals. After all people always act blind to the things that they dont readily experience or see even though they know such things exist.
I am not surprised that
I am not surprised that discrimination can have serious mental consequences as well as it can lead to physical limits. Discrimination affects people as it hurts feelings and as it can lower one's self-esteem and sense of self-worth. No one should ever feel like he or she is not good enough or worth it - not due to skin color or other discriminatory factors. I believe, people affected by (continuous) discrimination as children or teens are at an even higher risk to develop such mental disorders that the article talks about because they haven't fully developed yet, mentally and physically. Thus, one can influence them easier and more substantially planting a feeling of being not good enough in them.
i agree with you because it
i agree with you because it is statistically proven that verbal abuse causes more damage than physical abuse; especially if it is over a long period of time. those that are verbally abused are more likely to abuse others as well as wind up in prison. another statistic is that those that were abused and poor growing up are the predominant demographic in prisons. prejudice and racial slurs is just another form of verbal abuse.
I am a nursing student and
I am a nursing student and this article surprised me. We have never examined the effect of racism on mental and physical health and I find these studies very upsetting. Not only do racial minorities lack access to health care, but simply experiencing racism results in poor health. I am also surprised that racism has the same effect as experiencing trauma. Clearly racism is a significant issue in the US, and this article outlines another reason why change is a necessity.
mental and physical
mental and physical consequences are often being forgot about when talking about verbal abuse and discrimination. We see the whole picture in how people are treated wrong but it doesn't always come to mind how affected people suffer under discrimination. If we can keep in mind that discrimination can hurt as much as physical abuse, people can be understood even better which is important to help them.
Interesting, but not surprising.
I do not find it surprising at all that they conducted a study on the negative effects racism can have on the mental health of black adults in the United States. I also did not find it surprising that the conditions from these negative effects include physical pain, depression, and higher rates of hypertension because all those conditions deal with the brain and the emotional side of a person. Of course negative effects can cause stress which then can cause physical illness in a person. Racism can take an extreme toll on a person and this study clearly shows this. When talking about racism and how it effects people, I do not think we always address the emotional side of what racism does, but how it effects a person’s environment from the outside and this is why I think a lot of people find this article interesting. This week’s conversation is interesting because currently in my class we are talking about how caricatures of African-Americans are still affecting them to this day. I think that the stereotypes that African-Americans face even to this day because of what others did to them in the past can have an emotional toll on their mental health and can affect them in negative ways. I think that it’s smart to encourage mental health providers to include the effects of racism in their therapeutic routine because it can help assess that particular person’s emotional stability with their own thoughts about racism and how it is effecting them as an individual. Now that we know that negative effects of racism are effecting African-Americans mental health we should not allow it continue at all. We as a society need to attach racism head on and demolish the prejudice that still exist within us.
Interesting, but not surprising.
I do not find it surprising at all that they conducted a study on the negative effects racism can have on the mental health of black adults in the United States. I also did not find it surprising that the conditions from these negative effects include physical pain, depression, and higher rates of hypertension because all those conditions deal with the brain and the emotional side of a person. Of course negative effects can cause stress which then can cause physical illness in a person. Racism can take an extreme toll on a person and this study clearly shows this. When talking about racism and how it effects people, I do not think we always address the emotional side of what racism does, but how it effects a person’s environment from the outside and this is why I think a lot of people find this article interesting. This week’s conversation is interesting because currently in my class we are talking about how caricatures of African-Americans are still affecting them to this day. I think that the stereotypes that African-Americans face even to this day because of what others did to them in the past can have an emotional toll on their mental health and can affect them in negative ways. I think that it’s smart to encourage mental health providers to include the effects of racism in their therapeutic routine because it can help assess that particular person’s emotional stability with their own thoughts about racism and how it is effecting them as an individual. Now that we know that negative effects of racism are effecting African-Americans mental health we should not allow it continue at all. We as a society need to attach racism head on and demolish the prejudice that still exist within us.
Thats terrible
It's not a big surprise but for those who didn't know that it did this i guess it's i little more informative. Hatred towards different ethnic groups is a terrible thing to do and I always thought that it would have a damaging effect on the body as it does on the mind. I always thought that if you feel good in your mind you will be a little more healthy with your body.
I agree
When somebody does not feel comfortable with himself (due racism in this case) the inmune sistem tend to work less. This is why there are more problems to those people who are probably feeling blue. I agree that this may be informative to those who did not realize it and I am glad that they read it. This is one of the most important fact that show us why discrimination must be rid from society. The same thing happen to kids who are bullied.
Reality
I just can compare this with bullying. It is very true that when people get damaged within their mind they are most likely to have physical problems such as diseases, depresion, or any kind of negative effect. Mind controls the body, so If you are under racism pressure you may have a physical impact. Of course this impact will affect stronger to mentally weak people and it also depend of the level of discrimination that a certain person recive.
This is pretty sad reality that people must consider before go discriminate someone.
A bit exaggerated?
First, I am sure there are psychological effects of being exposed to repeated racist trauma. However, I feel that the author exaggerated some of the claims. For instance, claiming that "racism is one of the greatest threats to health and the well-being of contemporary society" and that it can be compared to cancer due to its "deadly impact". I can't see the similarities. Obesity, cancer, heart disease, etc are the greatest threats to health and well-being of contemporary society. Granted, the author makes claims that there is evidence racism leads to health issues such as heart disease. I wonder how accurate these studies were. Was it, "Oh look, 67 out of 100 black subjects checked the box indicating that they have a family history of heart disease as well as the box indicating they have experienced racism repeatedly through their lives." It's not that I do not think it is possible, and I am sure it can be greatly stressful and traumatic. I just do not take these sort of studies as matter of fact, many times the results are manipulated, is all I am saying.
It's crazy that racism still
It's crazy that racism still even exists. The fact that it hurts people even further than an emotional level is obvious though. Being put down hurts, especially when it's with something you can't do anything about.
I think as a nation we can do
I think as a nation we can do something about it. We can make more serious laws for even the smallest hate crimes. Racism really is one of those things that can sneakily become a serious physical health effect and like you said, the fact that it still exist is mind blowing.
I think as a nation we can do
I think as a nation we can do something about it. We can make more serious laws for even the smallest hate crimes. Racism really is one of those things that can sneakily become a serious physical health effect and like you said, the fact that it still exist is mind blowing.
Really Intriuguing findings
This article really opened my eyes to a new aspect of racism that I have not thought too in depth about before. Obviously there are going to be mental effects such as decreased self esteem and things of this nature but to compare the physical effects to that of cancer is really mind blowing to me. Its as if this problem can be considered as a disease really with having such harsh effects. It stated that doctors should consider the racial encounters that blacks or other minorities have experienced when diagnosing them. It seems to me if a doctor should go to these extremes, the nation should consider how to better eliminate this issue. Just the other day, there was KKK rally in Atlanta. Although freedom of speech is in the constitution I think that if that can cause health effects to the people that are now the minority but in coming years will become the majority, then some course of action should be taken.
not surprising, but should be highlighted
The psychological aspect and the physical aspect of human beings can never be completely separated. Imagine if a certain group of people undergoing mental abuse everyday, their body will respond in the way for them to realize that the environment does not fit for them and they might dodge away to a better living environment. "experiencing racism has similar negative effects on mental health of black adults in the United States", not surprising at all, but it can be good supporting evidence why racial equality is of our priority.
Offering mental health services
I also was not surprised about the result of the 2011 study that shows that blacks who are impacted by racism and trauma experience mental health consequences. The question came to mind, if mental health services were provided, with the black community take part? I know that in some cultures it is very taboo to speak with a therapist or talk about feelings outside of the family unit. I would be curious to know how many other nationalities participate in mental health services when they are offered.
Pages