mental health
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A Black Teen Was Going Through a Mental Health Crisis. Wisconsin Police Ended Up Punching Him in the Head
Madison, Wisc., police officers were called to the home of a 17-year-old boy last week because he was experiencing a mental health crisis. The encounter ended with officers tackling the child, placing a bag over his head, and punching the teen, who is black, repeatedly. Unbeknownst to the officers, the entire incident had been recorded…
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'Where Is My Mommy? She’s Gone': Tiffany Haddish Discusses Her Childhood Abuse With David Letterman
It’s no secret that there are profound tragedies at the root of many comedic success stories. As Tiffany Haddish revealed in her 2017 autobiography, The Last Black Unicorn, hers occurred in childhood when her mother suffered a traumatic brain injury. “When I was 8, about to be 9, she had a car accident and her…
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Fear, Medication and Black Mental Health: A Physician’s View From the Front Lines
Since becoming a primary care physician over 20 years ago, I made the conscious choice to cement my career treating black and minority patients, primarily in underserved and indigent communities. This career arc spans from rural clinics treating migrant farm workers to predominately black, inner-city hospitals. And while the reports of the overmedication of America…
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New Research Says That Identifying as a ‘Strong Black Woman’ Can Lead to Depression
In the last few years at least, there has been some pushback against the prevailing notion of the “strong black woman” as a good thing, as black women themselves have recognized that vulnerability and yes, selfishness, is an important part of a healthy mental make up. Like so many things that have gotten us through…
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Corinne Foxx Gets Her Own Category on Beat Shazam and Talks Beating Her Anxiety, Too
Corinne Foxx, daughter of Jamie Foxx, is a pretty face, but she also has a brain; and for mental health awareness month, she’s adamant about talking about “brain health.” In addition to co-hosting Fox’s Beat Shazam, the weekly music series in which two brothers from Philly recently walked with a cool $1 million, Foxx was…
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Michigan to Pay $860,000 in Lawsuit Over Prison Guards Who Bet on a Woman Inmate’s Suicide
How much is an incarcerated person’s life worth? At one Michigan jail, about the cost of a Subway sandwich. That’s what corrections officers wagered in response to a suicidal inmate, 25-year-old Janika Edmond, who threatened to kill herself—and requested help from guards—before eventually hanging herself in a prison shower. The Michigan Department of Corrections settled…
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Taraji P. Henson to Testify Before Congressional Committee on Black Youth Suicide
On the day that her “Can We Talk” Mental Health Conference weekend (June 7-9) is set to kick off in Washington, D.C., actress Taraji P. Henson will testify before the newly formed Congressional Black Caucus Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide. Henson, who has proven herself a fierce mental health advocate, will address the group at…
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What Lies Beneath: Hypnotherapy Is Helping Me Get to the Bottom of My Depression
I’m afraid I’m going to fart in front of my therapist. Specifically, I’m afraid I’m going to fall asleep during therapy, and fart in my sleep (and don’t act like you never fart in your sleep, because you do). For all I know, I already have at some point during the past 10 months I’ve…
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Is Dating Getting Young People in the Door to Therapy? These Experts Say Yes
Dating is hard. Anyone who says otherwise is probably lying or not a millennial. Whether the reason is we’re too busy to find someone, too uncomfortable to get out there (one time for the awkward black girls!), or a whole host of other reasons, more and more young people are finding it harder to settle…
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Broken Leg Syndrome: Why Don’t We Take Meds for Our Mental Health?
For twenty-five years, I’ve had to work through anxiety, depression and all sorts of mental health stuff. What have I learned? You need the right team to stay healthy. And just like any illness, it will likely start with some sort of medical intervention. But many times, people turn up their nose at the idea…