mental health
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The Police Call Was Supposed to Be a Wellness Check on a Friend. So How Did Travis Jordan End Up Dead?
Travis Jordan, 36, had been living with his friend and co-worker Paul Johnson and his wife in the couple’s Minneapolis home. On Friday, Johnson became concerned about Jordan and called police. Jordan had been “having a lot of suicidal thoughts because, um, depression, anxiety, but he’s not taking any pills for that. Um, he’s just…
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‘I’m White,’ Obviously Black Teenager Tells Dr. Phil
Self-hatred is nothing to laugh about—neither are delusional tendencies. That said, there was something so surreal about the spectacle of a 16-year-old black girl named Treasure insisting she was white on Dr. Phil’s unbelievably long-running talk show on Wednesday that The Root staff couldn’t help but shake our heads in confusion and laugh uncomfortably. We…
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This Is How a Black Woman Unravels
I walk a lot. I have a car, but sometimes, it’s nice to be able to look around you and see what’s out there. I lived in New York City for about four years, so walking is no big deal. Cat-calling is no big deal. I was walking, today, in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. It…
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#WCW: Serena Williams Just Got Real—and Relatable—About Postpartum Emotional Fallout
She may be the greatest athlete of all time (fight me), but Serena Williams recently admitted that despite daughter Alexis Olympia being the center of her universe, she’s not always confident that she’s the greatest mom. In a confessional post on Tuesday, Williams got real about the effects of postpartum hormones, telling her followers: Last week…
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Destiny's Child Singer Michelle Williams Checks Into Mental Health Facility to Fight Depression
Michelle Williams, the songstress who vaulted into notoriety along with some woman named Beyoncè (I wonder whatever happened to her?), has voluntarily checked herself into a California mental health facility a few days ago. TMZ reports that Williams is being treated at a facility near Los Angeles, Calif., continuing her ongoing fight against depression. The…
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Psychiatrist Accused of Treating Depression With Good Old-Fashioned Ass Whoopings
Because current scientific literature does not recognize “go get my belt” as a viable psychological treatment, a black Memphis, Tenn., psychiatrist has been forced to temporarily close her office after an investigation determined that she used whips on multiple patients. According to The Tennessean, the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners suspended the license (pdf) of…
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WTF Is Mental Health? Ask Kofi Siriboe
In a new short and stunningly shot documentary titled, WTF Is Mental Health?, Queen Sugar actor Kofi Siriboe explores how the young black community navigates mental health in 2018. “What’s it like being young, Black, and self-aware? Ask Anika. Ask Jonathan. Ask Clyla. Ask Cleon. Ask Shawn. Ask Ashley. Ask Mecca,” reads the tagline on the…
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‘Suck It Up’ or Pray: Advice That Almost Killed Me
I was beaten quite a bit as a child. I wasn’t a “bad kid” or a troublemaker, I just happened to come from a violent place (America) and a culture (small town, black, 1980s; take your pick) where beating children was de rigueur. As an infant, I was beaten with a wooden yardstick until my…
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Kanye’s Ye Is a Soundtrack for Gentrifiers
I was once a resident of Yeezus Island, but this spring has compelled me, finally, to put my house on the market. I doubt there will be any buyers, though. Maybe Jonah Hill might be interested, but my optimism has limitations. Anyway, Ye—which I listened to a few times last weekend—is many things. Undercooked. Scattered.…