Mental Health of African American Youth

African American Youth Mental Health

Overview.

This paper summarizes an interview with Tracy Nia about her work as a youth wellness consultant. Her selection is that Tracy Nia, a Black Mental Health Alliance consultant, has diverse experience in mental health care. Tracy Nia has a Bachelor of Science degree from Morgan State University and a Master of Social Work. She is also a certified art therapy life coach, and she provides treatment for anxiety disorders, sensor-related disorders, trauma, and mood disorders. Based on her experience as a mental health therapist, Tracy Nia was the perfect person for the interview. Given her busy schedule, she could not meet a face-to-face interview; hence the interview was via zoom. The discussion, which took place on 29th, 2022, addresses the social problem that she is addressing, policies and legislations, gaps in the survivor services, activism and social justice, and self-care and spirituality.

Social Problem

Nia Jones lost her childhood best friend after she committed suicide. Her friend, Mitchell, suffered from depression due to their family problems, but she did not open up to tell anyone. As a result, she opted to commit suicide to solve the challenge she was encountering. Nia says that \"after losing my childhood friend, I battled trauma depression as I blamed myself for her death. I felt I had failed as a friend, and that is why she did not open up to me about the issues she was encountering.\"

As a result, I choose to be a youth therapist so that I can create a safe space for them to talk about their mental health challenges. \"My advocacy journey began via a social media page on Instagram called \"Your Mental Health Matters.\" It was primarily for the youths to give them a chance to open up about their mental health. I could identify some severe cases and offer them free therapy.

My curiosity made me enquire why she primarily advocates for African American youths. Nia claims that based on her research, mental health disorder is common among African American children, particularly the male gender aged between 13-18 years. However, despite having high numbers of mental health issues, they do not speak out due to stigma and cultural beliefs.

Policies and Legislations

The United States has developed several policies concerning mental health issues. The first policy is the Children\'s Health Act of 2000 (SAMHSA, n.d). The policy was designed to reduce adolescents\' mental health issues and substance abuse. The act outlines ways in which the use of substances such as schedule III, IV, or V can be curbed, and it also fights against discriminatory Acts. Nia said this was a significant step, particularly regarding the biased sector. The government could therefore respond to all communities in need of mental health.

The second policy is the Garrett Lea Smith Memorial Act, which aims to fund programs that advocate against suicide among youths. This policy ensured that funds were set aside by the government agencies and donated to schools, campuses, and youth programs to reduce suicide cases among the youths.

The third policy is the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act of 2018. It is the most recent policy by the government, but it was primarily concerned with decreasing the use of opioids among the youths.

However, Nia claims that these policies do not cover the broad issues regarding mental health issues in America as they primarily focus on substance abuse. Nia does not refute that substance abuse is the leading cause of mental health, but she states that other factors lead to mental disorders. If the government truly wants to address the issue, these factors should also be addressed. As an advocate, she looks forward to advocating for more policies in the Congress House, particularly one that decreases discrimination against African American Youths with Mental disorders.

Gaps faced by those impacted by the problem

There is a gap between African American youth and whites regarding mental health. The significant gap is that these African American Youths are discriminated against by the government and community (Klineberg et al., 2006). When an African American youth opens up about a mental health issue, they are put in separate classes with others while at school.

Their families become hostile, and society judges them for using drugs. The reason is that majority of the people in the African American community think that mental health disorders can only result from drug abuse. As a result, fewer seek treatment than their white counterparts.

Another gap is in the poverty level among African American youths. Poverty is a significant challenge and a cause of depression among African American youth. As a result, they cannot afford treatment costs for therapy as the services are expensive. The government has also failed to introduce free treatment to their schools and campuses as the focus is put on their white counterparts.

\"These gaps are the core reasons I choose to advocate for African American youths.\" Says Nia during the interview. When asked what her definition of advocacy is, Nia, states that \"advocacy is the public support for or recommendation of a particular policy.\" By advocating for the African American youths, the mental health cases decline as the society becomes aware of the challenge and the youths are more willing to speak about their battles with mental health.

Self-Care Practices

When Nia began advocating for the youths, she got many roles and several job offers. However, she chooses to be a consultant at Black Mental Health Alliance. Her social media page also had many followers, and she had to join the discussions daily. Because she was offering free therapy to youths with severe cases on her Instagram page, Nia did not want to stop doing it as it was helping many individuals. As a result, she had a hectic daily routine, and to ensure that she fulfilled everything in a day, she had to be cautious of how she spent her time. Based on our interview, I can recall that she is time conservative, as she was ready on time and ended the discussion at the agreed time.

Hence, Nia has a self-care routine to help ease the fatigue. Nia is always at home by 8 O\'Clock to ensure that she has dinner with her family and spends quality time with them. She then reads a book before going to bed and plans her next day\'s schedule. She also ensures that she gets enough sleep to have the energy to work the following day. Exercising is essential; hence she goes to the gym every morning before preparing for work. Her work is overwhelming at times; hence near seeks professional help from others to ensure that she maintains balance.

Spirituality in addressing the issue

Nia says that religion is a sensitive matter to discuss because people have the freedom to worship (Elkonin, 2014). However, she reinstates when offering therapy; she prays with the client as part of the therapy. However, she first asks about the individual\'s religious background so that she can also be sensitive about the religion during treatment. The reason is that different religions have different beliefs regarding mental health disorders. Thus, she must always enquire before beginning her therapy.

Obstacle impacting activism

Nia states that activism today is challenging because of the increased use of social media. As much as social media helps them reach out to large numbers of individuals, the government monitors these social media platforms (Uldam, 2018). As a result, they do not have the privacy of the information as their content is scrutinized. Therefore, Nia states that she has to be cautious about what she writes on social media because she is a public figure; hence she can be harshly judged.