Let's Talk Bruh Series: The Silent Struggle - Exploring Anxiety in Black Men

Recently, I was able to chat and share my experience with anxiety with ​BEHEARD Community (@beheard_community)​. If you weren’t able to view my conversation, it’s posted on my page as well. Where do I start? Black Men dealing with anxiety is a topic that we feel we’ve “covered” as a community, but have we honestly reached the root of the problem? Before opening my laptop, I personally took a deep breath and a facepalm because I knew this was a topic where I needed to hit all points, but a never-ending conversation.

I previously gave a few reasons for what causes black men to have anxiety in my article, ​Dear White Boss​. As I researched what anxiety is, the phrase I consistently kept viewing is “Mental Health.” Anxiety can be normal in stressful situations. According to the Mayo Clinic, “Anxiety is only an indicator of underlying disease when feelings become excessive, all-consuming, and interfere with daily living.” Anxiety is categorized into numerous sections. The anxiety we suffer as black men range from anxiety/mental disorders, clinical depression, to post-traumatic stress disorder. As I type this, I’m thinking, “Rickey, do not place a label on yourself. Please don’t be concerned with what people think of you.” As I explained in my chat with BEHEARD Community, I was diagnosed with anxiety last year, after my bout with heart palpitations. Recently, within the last few months, I feel I’ve been able to have control over my anxiety. My last “episode” with anxiety was in April, so I’m in a healthy place in life so far.

I have to remember I’m only speaking for myself, but I want each article to be a voice for all black men that are experiencing what I’ve been through. I could easily cite sources and list statistics but I wanted to create dialogue and have “our conversation” as black men. We can say our normal day to day stressors are what cause our anxiety. If it was that simple, I wouldn’t have created this article. Have you considered that there’s a possibility that we all have been dealing with anxiety since we were children? We all know the majority of us weren’t born into the best circumstances. We hear it all the time from news sources or social media. The “hoods” we were raised in were crime-ridden and poverty-stricken, especially cities such as Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York City. Is that why we’re programmed to be defensive or what we’re viewed from the outside as “aggressive.” Thirty years of being labeled as an aggressor in any situation would have anyone develop anxiety. It’s the anxiety of being labeled as a suspect or “trouble” because of the color of my skin and the stereotypes of our neighborhoods. In Corporate America, I can come into the office, focused, and to myself, all day, then I’m asked “Rickey, are you okay?” and feel like I'm being the stereotypical “angry black man.” Now you have black entertainers, specifically a Chicago artist I listen to, ​G Herbo​, naming his album PTSD​ and creating his intervention services for African American men and women called, Swervin Through Stress.​ It’s now the “wave” to have dialogue and express how you feel and become open to your personal experiences. There’s nothing feminine about it at all.

We’ve stated the obvious, but what other factors affect us as black men that we don’t expound on or are hesitant to speak on? Anxiety can come from numerous things. What about the black man who was molested by a family member at a young age and now struggles with his sexual identity? What about the black man who witnessed a murder or a suicide at a young age and now struggles with suicidal thoughts himself? What about the black man whose entire family on his father and mother's side became a statistic of narcotics and gang violence? What about the black man who knew he was homosexual at an early age, but his family doesn’t accept him? I can relate to these subjects because I have friends I attended college with, who personally went through these experiences. Listening to their stories, I realized we all have our own story to tell, no matter the severity of it. We as black men have gone through a traumatic experience that may have us constantly watching over our shoulders or hesitant to become open to our peers. That is my main concern and point I want to get across to my non-black counterparts. Before you decide to label us, consider the cards we were dealt at birth and the circumstances we were raised in.

What I do enjoy seeing on social media is black empowerment and the new trend of establishing dialogue about mental health. I love that our generation has killed the connotation of dealing with mental health equals you being labeled as “crazy.” Now we’re focused on establishing generational wealth, but also being aware that while on your “grind,” to be sure to love yourself on the inside as much as you do on the outside. It’s funny because the older generations doubt there will be change, but there’s still hope for my generation and other generations to come.

Where do we go from here? Do we continue to suppress our issues and have those thoughts in our minds that increase our anxiety? The thing I’m concerned about is suppressing issues to the point it can cause a higher rate of suicide for black men. Always know that if you ever feel alone, there is professional help you can seek. I know COVID-19 has impacted our community both financially and mentally. Now we’re having more time to be still and actually process our thoughts and face our issues head-on with no outside distractions. Just know that it’s okay to talk about what you’re dealing with. I’m challenging all black men that read this article to begin focusing on the inside more during quarantine, whether it's reflecting on your current situation, creating a journal, expressing how you feel and goals that you want to accomplish, or establishing more dialogue about anxiety or mental disorders. We’re all in this together, with no judgment from the next man!