What It's Like To Struggle With Mental Health As A Black Woman | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Health and Wellness

As A First Generation, POC American, My Mental Illness Story Has Plenty Of Obstacles

Mental illness doesn't discriminate.

2551
As A First Generation, POC American, My Mental Illness Story Has Plenty Of Obstacles

I heard it all the time after my first attempt of trying to speak up about my self-diagnosed depression to my mother.

"What reason do you have to be depressed?? Grow up, be happy, and help me cook dinner in the kitchen."

I mean, I don't blame her. Many people believe mental illness is a myth, and I get that. However, the one thing that made it even harder to talk about in my household was the cultural barrier.

My parents were both born in Haiti. So were their parents, and then my great-grandparents and so on. They decided to move to America together once they were adults and they conceived my brother in their early 30s. A few years later, I came around.

They were brought up on old customs. Christianity was saturated into everything they did and were basically taught to grow up at a young age. That explains why my brother and I received the same "parenting."

Don't get me wrong, they are amazing parents. I'm somewhat glad they brought me up the way they did. On the other hand, the one thing I wish they taught me (and themselves) was to be open-minded and talk about my feelings.

I wanted to tell someone how I felt. It was at a point where I couldn't handle the feelings that surfaced all by myself. Once the time came, I opened up to my mother, but she couldn't understand me. We were born in different countries, but we spoke the same language. And for some reason, she still didn't understand me.

I went on for another year, suffering in silence.

If I hadn't confessed to my guidance counselor two years ago about the way I'd been feeling, who knows where I'd be now.

My parents are learning about the world of mental illness now. They're not professionals (and I don't expect them to be), but I'm glad they're learning. They're not happy that their "baby girl" had to be mentally ill, but who would be? They're happy that I'm still alive, and that's all that matters.

When it comes to telling your loved ones about your mental illness, there will be many barricades. In every situation, there will be barbed wires made of anger, walls constructed by denial and/or disbelief, and doors fortified by tears. However, believe me when I tell you this — the demolition of these obstacles starts with three words that you will all need to get through it:

"It'll be OK."

Report this Content
girl with santa hat
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

'Tis the season to be jolly folks, and if you're anything like me, then at the stroke of midnight on Halloween your home went from wicked to winter

Keep Reading...Show less
mistake
Project Eve

Mistakes are something we all make, no matter how old we get. Most of the time, the mistakes we made are little and sometimes due to something out of our control. Yet, there are mistakes that are bigger than others. Personally, I have mistakes that I wish I could go back and undo. Here they are:

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

5 Things To Do That Are Better Than Writing A Paper

Don't waste your time trying to write that paper when there are so many more interesting things you could be doing.

12261
computer keyboard
Unsplash

Writing a paper is never fun and is rarely rewarding. The writer's block, the page requirement, be specific, but don’t summarize, make sure you fixed any grammatical errors, did you even use spellcheck? and analyze, analyze, analyze.

Papers can be a major pain. They take up so much time and effort that by the end of the process you hate yourself and you hate the professor for making life so difficult. Questions of your existence start roaming in your mind. Am I even cut out for college if I can’t write a single paper? Am I even capable of taking care of myself if I lack the energy to open my laptop and start typing?

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

10 Reasons Why Sisters Are The Best

Who could be a better friend than your own sister?

7449
sisters
Taylor Hooper

I can barely remember back when I was the only child. Most would say it’s because it is extremely difficult to remember things as a toddler but I would say it's because I was bored until my sister came along. My mother always says how important the "sister bond" is and with every year that passes I realize how right she is. Instead of writing a novel about all of the wonderful things there are about having a sister I decided to list a few of them instead.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

How To Adult

You're gonna make it after all.

7381
how to adult
Twitter

It is the time of our lives that we are beginning to enter the adult world and most of us, if not all of us, have no idea what we are doing. It's like starting a video game, but skipping the tutorial. We're all just running around aimlessly hoping we accidentally do something right that moves us along the right path. Now that graduation has just happened, or is right around the corner for some of us, it's time to start thinking about how we are going to take care of ourselves once we are on our own.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments