The high-profile deaths of celebrities Avicii, Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain have forced important conversations about mental illness. Many of those conversations focus on how people who seemingly “have it all” could feel so isolated that ending their life seemed like the only solution.
Too often, those debates fail to acknowledge the social constructions of health and wellness that promote silence and misunderstanding across various identity markers. Having access to money and privilege aren’t effective barriers to depression. At the same time, the lack of access can be a very real impediment to healing.
Last week, actor Kofi Siriboe, noted for his roles in Queen Sugar and Girls Trip, released a powerful short documentary called WTFIMH –What the F*** Is Mental Health—that explores the mental health journeys of young Black people. For Siriboe, the project is deeply personal. He’s been very candid about his own struggles with depression and the impact of losing a mentor to suicide.
What once seemed like a taboo topic that only happened to “other people” is an increasingly frequent challenge for many communities of color. According to the National Association of Mental Illness, suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 10 and 24. A new report released by the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that Black children are twice as likely to take their lives as White youth.
Whether more people are taking their lives or if it is becoming more socially acceptable to be open about mental health challenges is debatable. What is clear, however, is that the failure to address the stigma associated with mental illness is often compounded by racial and class-based barriers to treatment.
In March, I wrote about the politics of mental health for Diverse with a special emphasis on the challenges facing young people on college campuses. Revisiting that article amid ongoing discussions about suicide and mental health made me realize that this week also marks the three year anniversary since the death of Kalief Browder, a 16-year-old New Yorker accused of stealing a backpack. Although he was never tried nor convicted of the crime, Browder spent three years on Riker’s Island because his family couldn’t afford his bail.
Browder endured years of mental and emotional torture on Riker’s after being beaten by guards and inmates and frequently being sent to solitary confinement. The American Psychological Association has long opposed the practice, noting that extreme isolation can have permanent effects that induce psychosis and promote suicidal ideations. In spite of this, over 80,000 inmates are currently held in solitary confinement.
