Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute (PPI) celebrates Diversity, a vital component of our current and future success as a Behavioral Health Service provider of choice. We are committed to removing barriers, crossing traditional boundaries and exploring new ways of thinking and being. We promote an atmosphere of inclusion, respect, openness, and trust. We fully embrace and utilize our “likenesses” and “differences” to enhance problem solving, processes and systems.
This year for Women’s History Month, we are highlighting different women each week who, although you may have not heard of previously, have contributed greatly to society.
This week we are shining light on Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, three women who played a vital role in advancing NASA’s missions. These African American women computers played a vital role in 1962, when they helped send the first American astronaut into orbit, John Glenn. You may have heard about their story from the 2016 film Hidden Figures.
Katherine Johnson was born on Aug. 26, 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, WV. Her brilliance with numbers shone early on and vaulted her ahead several grades in school, and by 13, she was attending high school. At 18, she enrolled in the historically black West Virginia State College, where she graduated with highest honors in 1937 and took a job teaching at a black public school in Virginia. She left her teaching job and enrolled in the graduate math program in 1939. Katherine was one of the three black students handpicked to integrate West Virginia’s graduate schools. At the end of the first session, however, she decided to leave school to start a family with her first husband, James Goble.
It wasn’t until 1952 that she heard about open positions at the all-black West Area Computing section at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ (NACA’s) Langley laboratory, headed by fellow West Virginian Dorothy Vaughan. Katherine and her husband moved to Virginia to pursue the opportunity, where Katherine spent the next four years analyzing data from flight tests until her husband died of cancer in December 1956.
The 1957 launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik changed history—and her life. She worked on and published several papers with engineers that formed the core of the Space Task Group, the NACA’s (later becoming NASA in 1958) first official foray into space travel.
In 1962, as NASA prepared for the orbital mission of John Glenn, Katherine was called upon to do the work that she would become most known for. As a part of the preflight checklist, Glenn asked engineers to “get the girl”—Katherine Johnson—to run the same numbers through the same equations that had been programmed into the computer, but by hand. “If she says they’re good,’” Katherine remembers the astronaut saying, “then I’m ready to go.” The flight was a success and marked a turning point in the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in space.
Katherine retired in 1986, after 33 years at Langley. “I loved going to work every single day,” she said. In 2015, at age 97, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. She died on Feb. 24, 2020, at 101 years old – an American hero who’s pioneering legacy will never be forgotten.
Born Sept.20, 1910, in Kansas City, MO. those who speak of NASA’s pioneers rarely mention the name Dorothy Vaughan, but as the head of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ (NACA’s) segregated West Area Computing Unit from 1949 until 1958, Vaughan was both a respected mathematician and NASA’s first African American manager.
Dorothy Vaughan came to the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in 1943, during the height of World War II, leaving her position as the math teacher at Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville, VA to take what she believed would be a temporary war job. Two years after President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 into law, prohibiting racial, religious and ethnic discrimination in the country’s defense industry, the Laboratory began hiring black women to meet the skyrocketing demand for processing aeronautical research data.
Dorothy Vaughan was assigned to the segregated “West Area Computing” unit, an all-black group of female mathematicians. Over time, both individually and as a group, the West Computers distinguished themselves with contributions to virtually every area of research at Langley.
Dorothy Vaughan helmed West Computing for nearly a decade. In 1958, when the NACA made the transition to NASA, segregated facilities, including the West Computing office, were abolished. Dorothy Vaughan and many of the former West Computers joined the new Analysis and Computation Division, a racially and gender-integrated group on the frontier of electronic computing.
Retiring from NASA in 1971, her legacy lives on in the successful careers of notable West Computing alumni, including Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, Eunice Smith and Kathryn Peddrew, and the achievements of second-generation mathematicians and engineers such as Dr. Christine Darden.
Last, but certainly not least, is Mary Jackson. Born April 9, 1921, Mary grew up in Hampton, VA. After graduating with highest honors from high school, she then continued her education at Hampton Institute, earning her Bachelor of Science Degrees in Mathematics and Physical Science.
Mary’s path to an engineering career at NASA took several turns. After graduating she was a math teacher at a black school in Maryland. After a year of teaching, Mary returned home, finding a position as the receptionist at the USO Club, as a bookkeeper in Hampton Institute’s Health Department, a stint at home following the birth of her son, Levi, and a job as an Army secretary—before Mary landed at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory’s segregated West Area Computing section in 1951, reporting to the group’s supervisor Dorothy Vaughan.
After two years in the computing pool, Mary received an offer to work for engineer Kazimierz Czarnecki in the 4-foot by 4-foot Supersonic Pressure Tunnel. Czarnecki offered Mary hands-on experience with experiments in the facility, and eventually suggested that she enter a training program that would allow her to earn a promotion from mathematician to engineer. Mary completed the courses, earned the promotion, and in 1958 became NASA’s first black female engineer.
Mary began her engineering career in an era in which female engineers of any background were a rarity, and may have been the only black female aeronautical engineer in the field. In 1979, seeing that the glass ceiling was the rule rather than the exception for the center’s female professionals, she made a final, dramatic career change, leaving engineering and taking a demotion to fill the open position of Langley’s Federal Women’s Program Manager. There, she worked hard to impact the hiring and promotion of the next generation of all of NASA’s female mathematicians, engineers and scientists.
Mary retired from the NASA Langley Research Center in 1985 as an Aeronautical Engineer after 34 years. Among her many honors were an Apollo Group Achievement Award and being named Langley’s Volunteer of the Year in 1976. A 1976 Langley Researcher profile might have done the best job capturing Mary’s spirit and character, calling her a “gentlelady, wife and mother, humanitarian and scientist.” For Mary Jackson, science and service went hand in hand.
Sources:
• Katherine Johnson Biography | NASA
• Dorothy Vaughan Biography | NASA
• Mary Jackson Biography | NASA
This year for Women’s History Month, we are highlighting different women each week who, although you may have not heard of previously, have contributed greatly to society.
Second to be highlighted is Lucy Stone, a leading suffragist, abolitionist, and vocal advocate promoting women’s rights. She studied school at Oberlin College and was the first Massachusetts woman to earn a bachelor’s degree in 1847.
At her wedding ceremony in 1855, she read a ‘marriage protest,’ signed by her and her husband, Harry Blackwell. The protest denounced the legal portions of a marriage in which a woman became subservient to and property of her husband. She was the first American women to keep her last name when she was married.
In the1869 anniversary celebration of the Equal Rights Association, Stone quoted, “I believe that the influence of women will save the country before every other power.”
When Equal Rights Association refused to give women voting rights, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was formed by two rival women’s suffrage organizations in1890. The NAWSA represented millions of women to protest at state level, believing that state-by-state support would force the federal government to pass the amendment.
While she stood for women’s rights, she was also an abolitionist in support of the 15th Amendment, earning African American men the right to vote.
In 1893, Stone passed away before the ratification of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. Her endless efforts paved the way for her daughter and future generations of women to earn the rights they willingly deserve. On her last day, she said, “I am glad I was born, and that at a time when the world needed the service I could give.”
Another noteworthy figure of the time, Mary Church Terrell, was a women’s suffragist and civil rights activist.
Terrell was one of the first African American women to earn a degree at Oberlin College in Ohio. She continued her education to earn a master’s degree in 1888. After college, she became a teacher in Washington D.C. and the first African American woman appointed to the school board of a major city.
In 1896, she became the president of the National Association of Colored Women. Her work focused on the notion of racial uplift, a belief that blacks would end racial discrimination by advancing themselves and other members of the race through education, work, and community activism. Her words, “Lifting as we climb” became the organization’s motto.
Terrell fought for civil rights and women’s suffrage because she belonged to “the only group in this country that has two such huge obstacles to surmount… sex and race.”
She was a charter member for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) – the largest American civil rights organization established in 1909.
After the 19th Amendment was passed and women were granted the right to vote, Terrell focused on a broader spectrum of civil rights. In 1940, she published her autobiography, A Colored Woman in a White World, highlighting her experiences with discrimination.
In 1948, she became the first black member of the African Association of University Women after winning an anti-discrimination lawsuit. In 1950, she challenged segregation in public places by protesting a restaurant in D.C. In 1953, The United States Supreme Court ruled segregated eating facilities as unconstitutional and she claimed her victory. This rule was groundbreaking in the civil rights movement.
Terrell fought tirelessly to bring racial justice and equality for all African Americans up until her death in 1954.
Sources:
• Top 10 Women’s Suffrage Activists (thoughtco.com)
• Marriage Protest:Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell, 1855 (thoughtco.com)
• Lucy Stone | anna brones
• The National American Woman Suffrage Association (brynmawr.edu)
• 5 Essential Black Figures In The Women’s Suffrage Movement (wgbh.org)
• Mary Church Terrell | National Women’s History Museum (womenshistory.org)
• NAACP - HISTORY
This year for Women’s History Month, we are highlighting different women each week who, although you may have not heard of previously, have contributed greatly to society.
First to be highlighted is Katalin Karikó, PhD, for her contributions to mRNA technology and the COVID-19 vaccines.
Dr. Karikó is a biochemist, adjunct Professor of Neurosurgery and researcher at Penn Medicine.
Dr. Karikó and her colleagues invented the modified mRNA technology used in Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s vaccines to prevent COVID-19 infection.
Born in Hungary, she has been working in the USA since 1985 at the University of Pennsylvania and more lately at BioNTech as a Senior Vice president. More than 15 years ago at Penn Medicine, Dr. Karikó and co-collaborator Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, found a way to modify mRNA and later developed a delivery technique to package the mRNA in lipid nanoparticles. This made it possible for mRNA to reach the proper part of the body and trigger an immune response to fight disease.
These laboratory breakthroughs made mRNA safe, effective, and practical for use as a vaccine against COVID. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine received FDA approval in August 2021, and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine has been authorized by the FDA for emergency use.
Now she is being honored for this by the Würzburg Societas Physico-Medica in Germany. She is “the woman behind the vaccine breakthrough”, as Euronews writes. She made “a discovery that now seems worthy of a Nobel Prize to many experts”, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung. And for the New York Times, she is “the woman who helped protect the world from the new Corona virus”.
This award is the highest award in the life sciences at the University of Würzburg, and this is the first time the Societas Physico-Medica has awarded the prize to a woman.
“Without the fundamental work of Katalin Karikó, it would not have been possible to develop an effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 within such a short time.” – Professor Manfred Schartl, Chairman of Physico-Medica
If you would like to speak to someone about better managing your stress and anxiety, or to make an appointment, please call (717) 782-6493 for more information.
Sources:
• Katalin Kariko, PhD profile | PennMedicine.org
• The woman behind the development of mRNA-based vaccines against coronavirus (news-medical.net)
This year for Black History Month, have been highlighting different mental illnesses each week and two prominent members in the Black community who have spoken out about their experiences with them. We aim to highlight that even though someone has a mental illness, they can still be successful.
Michael Jackson, aka the King of Pop, was an American singer, dancer, entertainer, and recording artist. His music career began in 1964 at only six years old, as part of the Jackson 5 – led by their father. Motown records signed the group, producing hit singles including: “I Want You Back,” and “ABC.” Jackson’s father pushed his music career so far that he was often physically abusive. Jackson wrote in Moonwalk, his 1988 autobiography, “We’d perform for him, and he’d critique us,” “If you messed up, you got hit, sometimes with a belt, sometimes with a switch.”
In the late 1970s, Jackson started his solo career and his claim to fame wasn’t long after. His second solo album, Thriller, had 110 million global sales and 29 million sales in the U.S. Jackson became the most famous pop singer in the world.
Despite Jackson’s worldwide success, he was thought to have Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). In the late 1980s, it became seemingly noticeable that Jackson had several cosmetic procedures that changed his facial structure, especially his nose. In a 1993 interview with Oprah, Jackson revealed his vitiligo – a skin disorder that causes the skin to lose its color. Skeptics were led to believe that he was using bleaching treatment to intentionally look white.
African Americans are less likely to seek treatment than white Americans because historically, they have received poor care by health professionals. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of Minority Health, Black adults are more likely than white adults to experience persistent symptoms of emotional distress, such as sadness, hopelessness, and feeling that they have to dedicate extra effort to everything they do. Similar to Jackson’s case, his own insecurities led to many surgical procedures in an attempt to match societal standards.
In Jackson’s final stages of life, he was in preparation for the This Is It tour to show the public that he still had what it takes as an entertainer. Unfortunately, his behavior started to portray signs of “paranoia, anxiety and obsessive-disorder-like behavior,” found in a series of emails written by director Kenny Ortega. Right up until his death, Jackson had an upbeat mentality and a strong enthusiasm during his final rehearsals, though appearing emotionally frail and physically thin. Jackson died at age 50 from cardiac arrest caused by an overdose of propofol – a sleeping pill.
Michael Jackson isn’t the only iconic Black singer that that faced challenges with mental illness. So has American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer, Mariah Carey.
Carey’s parents divorced at three years old. At age four, her mother, a voice coach, noticed her talent for operatic singing and gave her singing lessons. At age 18, she was signed by Colombia Records, after hearing her demo tape. Her first album included four No. 1 singles including: “Vision of Love,” “Love Takes Time,” “Some Day,” and “I Don’t Wanna Cry.“
In 2001, Carey was admitted to the hospital and put under psychiatric care after what her publicists called a “physical and emotional collapse.” At this point in time, she was diagnosed with Bipolar II Disorder.
Years later in 2018, she told People she refused to acknowledge her diagnoses. “Until recently I lived in denial and isolation and in constant fear someone would expose me,” she said. “It was too heavy a burden to carry and I simply couldn’t do that anymore.”
The stigma associated with mental illness is backed by the cultural belief in the Black community that only people who are “crazy” or “weak” see mental health professionals. Erica Richards, chair and medical director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Sibley Memorial Hospital, says, “Anyone can experience mental illness. There is no group, gender, sexual identity, race or cultural belief that can prevent it from occurring.”
Carey turned her life around and reached out for help with therapy and medications. She is in a good place mentally and hopes one day that the stigma with mental health issues is eradicated. “I’m hopeful we can get to a place where the stigma is lifted from people going through anything alone. It can be incredibly isolating. It does not have to define you and I refuse to allow it to define me or control me.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, Body dysmorphic disorder is a mental health disorder in which you can’t stop thinking about one or more perceived defects or flaws in your appearance — a flaw that appears minor or can’t be seen by others.
Signs and symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder include:
• Being extremely preoccupied with a perceived flaw in appearance that to others can’t be seen or appears minor
• Strong belief that you have a defect in your appearance that makes you ugly or deformed
• Belief that others take special notice of your appearance in a negative way or mock you
• Engaging in behaviors aimed at fixing or hiding the perceived flaw that are difficult to resist or control, such as frequently checking the mirror, grooming or skin picking
• Attempting to hide perceived flaws with styling, makeup or clothes
• Constantly comparing your appearance with others
• Frequently seeking reassurance about your appearance from others
• Having perfectionist tendencies
• Seeking cosmetic procedures with little satisfaction
• Avoiding social situations
According to the Mayo Clinic, bipolar disorder (formerly called manic-depressive illness or manic depression) is a mental disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, concentration, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks.
People with bipolar disorder experience periods of unusually intense emotion, changes in sleep patterns and activity levels, and uncharacteristic behaviors—often without recognizing their likely harmful or undesirable effects.
If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.
If you would like to speak to someone about better managing your stress and anxiety, or to make an appointment, please call (717) 782-6493 for more information.
Sources:
• https://www.biographyonline.net/music/michael-jackson.html
• https://ocdla.com/michael-jackson-bdd-1933
• https://www.biography.com/news/michael-jackson-childhood-peter-pan-syndrome
• https://www.umassmed.edu/vitiligo/blog/blog-posts1/2016/01/did-michael-jackson-have-vitiligo/
• https://www.everydayhealth.com/black-health/black-masculinity-and-mental-health/
• https://www.biography.com/news/michael-jackson-final-days
• https://www.biography.com/musician/mariah-carey
• https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/mental-health-among-african-american-women
• https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/body-dysmorphic-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20353938
• https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bipolar-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355955
This year for Black History Month, we continue highlighting different mental illnesses each week and two prominent members in the Black community who have spoken out about their experiences with them. We aim to highlight that even though someone has a mental illness, they can still be successful.
Brandon Marshall was one of the NFL’s top wide receivers and best-known players during his 12-year professional football career. Success on the field didn’t translate to his personal life off the field, however, when something prematurely ended his NFL career, marriage, and nearly caused incarceration.
Drafted in 2006, Brandon played for Denver Broncos, going on play for the Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears, New York Jets, New York Giants, and finally the Seattle Seahawks in 2018. All the while setting numerous records and voted MVP at the 2012 Pro Bowl.
Brandon Marshall believes 1-4 Jets are in ‘perfect position’ to make playoffs. Source: thecomeback.com
However, his life off the field wasn’t as successful. Year after year he was charged with numerous infractions, including DUIs, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, suspicion of domestic violence and assault. By 2011 friends and family told him he needed help and that summer he went to the McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, where he was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).
Learning about the disorder that had plagued him his entire life was a game changer. “When they diagnosed me, I just … exhaled — like the biggest exhale of my life. It was just a huge relief.”
“My emotions had been controlling me, and I was trapped — not by anything external, but by things that were inside me. But I couldn’t be the one to help myself. I needed to seek help.”
With football as his platform, Brandon aimed to show others that it’s okay to seek help for BPD. He spoke openly about his struggles with mental health, one of the first well-known athletes to do so.
“When I first heard the term mental health, the first thing that came to mind was mental toughness. Masking pain. Hiding it. Keeping it inside. That had been embedded in me since I was a kid. Never show weakness. Suck it up. Play through it. Live through it. Now, I realize that mental health means the total opposite.”
Marshall regularly addresses groups about how important it is for people to seek help with BPD. He and his wife Michi cofounded Project 375 to increase awareness of BPD and other mental health issues to combat the associated stigma and raise funds for treatment.
Well known Netflix series “Outer Banks” actress Madison Bailey has opened up in recent years about living with BPD in an interview Monday. She was diagnosed at age 17, but that did not stop her from becoming a successful actress.
“I got my diagnosis, and that’s what I needed — a word to call it other than ‘crazy.’ I started realizing my own triggers.” Now 23, Bailey told Entertainment Tonight that she manages BPD through meditation and crystals and by being aware of her own triggers. She also said there are some upsides to the diagnosis. “One of the main [pros] is that likes and dislikes change often, so my aesthetic changes often. My music taste changes often,” she shared. “I have a very broad personality, which allows me to connect with a lot of people.”
Though she’s still young, Madison Bailey takes her platform and the voice it gives her seriously. The TV star often uses her Instagram and other accounts to talk about issues that are close to her heart. As a Black woman and a member of the LGBTQ+ community herself, Bailey has spoken up about social justice for those communities.
According to the Mayo Clinic, borderline personality disorder, or BPD, is a mental health disorder that impacts the way you think and feel about yourself and others, causing problems functioning in everyday life. It includes self-image issues, difficulty managing emotions and behavior, and a pattern of unstable relationships.
Signs and symptoms may include:
• An intense fear of abandonment, even going to extreme measures to avoid real or imagined separation or rejection
• A pattern of unstable intense relationships, such as idealizing someone one moment and then suddenly believing the person doesn’t care enough or is cruel
• Rapid changes in self-identity and self-image that include shifting goals and values, and seeing yourself as bad or as if you don’t exist at all
• Periods of stress-related paranoia and loss of contact with reality, lasting from a few minutes to a few hours
• Impulsive and risky behavior, such as gambling, reckless driving, unsafe sex, spending sprees, binge eating or drug abuse, or sabotaging success by suddenly quitting a good job or ending a positive relationship
• Suicidal threats or behavior or self-injury, often in response to fear of separation or rejection
• Wide mood swings lasting from a few hours to a few days, which can include intense happiness, irritability, shame or anxiety
• Ongoing feelings of emptiness
• Inappropriate, intense anger, such as frequently losing your temper, being sarcastic or bitter, or having physical fights
If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.
If you would like to speak to someone about better managing your stress and anxiety, or to make an appointment, please call (717) 782-6493 for more information.
Sources:
• Borderline personality disorder - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
• How Brandon Marshall Has Faced His Diagnosis of BPD (fherehab.com)
• ‘Outer Banks’ Madison Bailey Reveals Borderline Personality Disorder | The Mighty
• The Untold Truth Of Madison Bailey (thelist.com)
This year for Black History Month, we will be highlighting different mental illnesses each week and two prominent members in the Black community who have spoken out about their experiences with them. We aim to highlight that even though someone has a mental illness, they can still be successful.
Earl Simmons, better known by his stage name DMX, is a multi-Platinum American rapper and actor. He grew up in the projects, where robbery was commonplace. He robbed from drug dealers and spent much of his adolescence in and out of juvenile detention and youth home groups. As an escape route, he found his passion for Hip-Hop rapping.
At age 14, DMX was introduced to crack cocaine after being tricked into smoking a cigarette laced with the drug. For years, he downplayed his mental health and substance abuse issues and intended to focus on his music career. However, in a Dr. Phil interview, he revealed his suffering from bipolar disorder – a disease that causes severe mood swings between mania and depression.
DMX wasn’t the first Black artist to open up to the world about his mental health. Other black hip-hop artists like The Notorious B.I.G. introduced “Suicidal Thoughts” in 1994 and the Geto Boys 1991 release “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” about the realities of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from living in the hood.
As studies have shown, Black Americans are less likely to seek psychological help than white Americans. The main reasons are that Black people have historically received worse care from health professionals, leading to more misdiagnoses. Mental-health issues often aren’t seen as being “real” within the community, especially Black men, indicating signs of weakness. DMX’s internal struggles were made a part of his narrative; he focused on living his truth, disregarding these beliefs. This was groundbreaking for Black men.
In DMX’s last years, he focused more on sobriety and connecting with God. “Every day, I start my day off with a prayer to ask the Lord to guide my steps. Cover me and keep me safe. Every album, there’s a gospel song and a prayer. Every album, from the beginning.” For him, mental illness was not seen as a weakness, rather a strength to share his story and help others dealing with similar situations.
Black women also face challenges with drug addiction, like American musician, actress, and model, Mary J. Blige.
Blige had a troublesome childhood due to her mother’s alcoholism and her father’s abuse. Her father left the family when she was 4 years old.
Blige and her mother moved to the projects to escape the abuse, but it seemed to follow them. According to Biography, she said, “I’d hear women screaming and running down the halls from guys beating up on them,” People chased us with weapons. I never saw a woman there who wasn’t abused. It was a dangerous place.”
The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul’s 1994 album, “My Life” was inspired by these difficult childhood circumstances. She admits to severe depression during this part of her life. According to the New York Daily News, she said “‘My Life’ is probably my darkest album at one of my darkest times I had,” Blige says in the trailer, according to the New York Daily News. “Most of the times, I was just depressed and didn’t want to live.”
At just the age of 5, she was sexually assaulted. The detriment from this unsettling experience led to substance abuse in her teenage years and adulthood. Her alcoholism and substance abuse became an escape route from the childhood trauma.
Eventually, she was able to turn her life around and find a stable peace of mind. In 2021, she featured in the Amazon documentary, “My Life” about her difficult past experiences. Speaking her truth helped her to heal and found beauty in living to tell the story, according to Billboard. Blige remains one of the biggest sensations in the music industry and inspires many women around the world with her successes.
Both stars dealt with unstable housing in their childhood, which led to serious mental health issues down the road. According to a study by Mental Health America, black people living in poverty are twice as likely to report serious psychological distress. The same study also found that binge drinking, smoking and illicit drug use are more frequent among Black adults with mental illnesses. Although these correlations are striking, both artists learned to find peace with themselves and overcome their battles by sharing their narratives.
Addiction is the inability to stop using a substance or engaging in a behavior though it is causing psychological and physical harm.
The American Society of Addiction Medicine defines addiction as “a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences.”
Symptoms of addiction include:
• declining grades or difficulty at school
• poor performance at work
• relationship difficulties, which often involve lashing out at people who identify the addiction
• an inability to stop using a substance even though it may be causing health problems or personal problems, such as issues with employment or relationships
• a noticeable lack of energy in daily activities
• profound changes in appearance, including weight loss and a noticeable abandonment of hygiene
• appearing defensive when asked about substance use
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
If you would like to speak to someone about better managing your stress and anxiety, or to make an appointment, please call (717) 782-6493 for more information.
Sources:
• https://www.hiphopscriptures.com/dmx
• https://tidal.com/magazine/article/mental-health-dmx/1-78211
• https://blackdoctor.org/dmx-bipolar-disorder/
• https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/mary-j-blige-9468.php
• https://www.thelist.com/183176/the-stunning-transformation-of-mary-j-blige/
• https://www.mhanational.org/issues/black-and-african-american-communities-and-mental-health
• https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323465#helpful-organizations
This year for Black History Month, we will be highlighting different mental illnesses each week and two prominent members in the Black community who have spoken out about their experiences with them. We aim to highlight that even though someone has a mental illness, they can still be successful.
Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, aka “Logic,” is a streamer, writer, record label owner, and a recently retired rapper.
He grew up in poverty with substance-addicted parents. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Black or African Americans living below the poverty level, compared to those over twice the poverty level, are twice as likely to report serious psychological distress.
In his late twenties, he was finally financially stable in his life. However, his hectic schedule and his own insecurities led to a severe anxiety attack and was hospitalized. He was diagnosed with derealization disorder – an anxiety-induced disorder with symptoms that include the sense of being out of one’s body, all of the time.
In 2017, the Grammy-Nominated rapper released “1-800-273-8255” in association with The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. With record highs in Billboard charts, this single also stuck another interesting cord — A high number of calls to the hotline. The director of The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline said, “Overall, we saw about 26-27% increase in calls that year,” “The overall water level, so to speak, had risen and largely due — we believe — to the song.”
As a biracial rapper, he struggles with how the world sees him, especially with the negativity that lives on social media. He told the Recording Academy about his experience with mental health and anxiety. “I was so scared for so long to say that because society has led me to believe that my anxiety is stupid and shouldn’t be talked about, or that suicide, ‘Who cares, who’s weak enough to kill themselves?,’ which is the most terrible, disgusting, ugly thing somebody can say,“ In retrospect, he finds positivity to it all and wants to focus on living freely and being surrounded by happiness.
Black men are dying from suicide at increasing rates. A recent report released by the Congressional Black Caucus says that suicide is ranked as the 3rd leading cause of death in Black men from ages 15-24. “There’s a need for black male therapists because that is who they’re going to feel more comfortable talking to,” said Diamond Dale, a Black Mental Health Advocate.
Black women also face challenges with suicidal thoughts or actions, like Oscar- Winning actress Halle Berry.
In 1997, her first failed marriage with baseball star David Justice triggered an attempt to take her own life. The 40-year-old was so devastated by the split, that she attempted to gas herself. In the last minute, she thought of her mother and came to a quick realization that ending her life would be selfish. In an interview with Parade Magazine, Berry said “I was sitting in my car, and I knew the gas was coming when I had an image of my mother finding me. She sacrificed so much for her children, and to end my life would be an incredibly selfish thing to do.”
Since then, counseling and therapy helped her take control of her life. She reprogramed herself into focusing on motherhood and family.
Halle Berry. Source: closerweekly.com
According to an article, ‘What’s Going on with Our Black Girls’, by Christina Caron, suicide rate of Black females ages 15 to 24 years old rose by 59 percent between 2013 and 2019. The same article states that about 9 percent of the older girls experienced a relationship crisis before the suicide – similar to Halle Berry’s experience.
A study by sociology doctoral student Heather Kugelmass, MA., showed that counseling offices are not always available for black women and therapists are less likely to offer appointments due to a possible internal bias of their own. Aside from this lack of resources, psychologists are now working to make the mental health field more welcoming to Black women and more responsive to their needs.
Suicide is death caused by injuring oneself with the intent to die. A suicide attempt is when someone harms themselves with any intent to end their life, but they do not die as a result of their actions.
A combination of situations could lead someone to consider suicide. Risk factors increase the possibility of suicide, but they might not be direct causes.
Risk Factors:
Individual:
• Previous suicide attempt
• Mental illness, such as depression
• Social isolation
• Criminal problems
• Financial problems
• Impulsive or aggressive tendencies
• Job problems or loss
• Legal problems
• Serious illness
• Substance use disorder
Relationship:
• Adverse childhood experiences such as child abuse and neglect
• Bullying
• Family history of suicide
• Relationship problems such as a break-up, violence, or loss
• Sexual violence
Community:
• Barriers to health care
• Cultural and religious beliefs such as a belief that suicide is noble resolution of a personal problem
• Suicide cluster in the community
Societal:
• Stigma associated with mental illness or help-seeking
• Easy access to lethal means among people at risk (e.g. firearms, medications)
• Unsafe media portrayals of suicide
If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.
If you would like to speak to someone about better managing your stress and anxiety, or to make an appointment, please call (717) 782-6493 for more information.
Sources:
• https://blog.gfuel.com/logic-rapper
• https://nypost.com/2017/08/03/how-a-rapper-fought-through-crushing-anxiety-to-become-no-1/
• https://www.grammy.com/news/logic-opens-about-his-truth-hardest-years-my-life-mentally
• https://www.npr.org/2021/12/28/1067880209/logic-1-800-273-8255-suicide-prevention-lifeline
• https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=24
• https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/black-male-suicide-deaths-rising-faster-than-other-racial-groups/509-1dea0383-e5d8-4ce2-95dd-12ee43b52b62
• https://www.nydailynews.com/news/halle-berry-admits-suicide-attempt-article-1.213921
• https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/10/well/mind/suicide-rates-black-girls.html
• https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/facts/index.html
This year for Black History Month, we will be highlighting different mental illnesses each week and two prominent members in the Black community who have spoken out about their experiences with them. We aim to highlight that even though someone has a mental illness, they can still be successful.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is an actor, businessman, and former professional wrestler, known as one of Hollywood’s tough guys and top earners. Seemingly someone who has it all together, the former wrestler-turned-actor started shedding light a few years ago on his battle with depression.
He first experienced depression after not getting drafted into the NFL after playing collegiate football. “Struggle and pain is real. I was devastated and depressed,” Johnson said in an interview with The Daily Express. “I reached a point where I didn’t want to do a thing or go anywhere. I was crying constantly.”
It took time, hard work and self-empathy for The Rock to get through the difficult times. Rates of major depressive disorder in young Black adults ages 18 to 25 increased by more than 3 percent between 2015 and 2018, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), yet Black Americans of all age groups are less likely to seek treatment than white Americans. While Black Americans experience similar rates of mental illness as other Americans in general, research finds that Black men are more likely to endorse aspects of traditional masculine ideology, such as the need to act tough and in control and to avoid emotional expression.
Because of this many Black men are not receiving the help they need for these problems. For example, only 26.4% of Black and Hispanic men ages 18 to 44 who experienced daily feelings of anxiety or depression were likely to have used mental health services, compared with 45.4% of non-Hispanic White men with the same feelings (NCHS Data Brief No. 206, 2015).
“Took me a long time to realize it but the key is to not be afraid to open up,” he continued. “Especially us dudes have a tendency to keep it in. You’re not alone.”
Successful women have also gone through depression, like Destiny’s Child singer Michelle Williams. In fact, depression facts and statistics commonly report that women are two times more likely to suffer from depression than men. Tenitra Michelle Williams is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame in the 2000s as a member of R&B girl group Destiny’s Child, one of the best-selling female groups of all time with over 60 million records.
During her time within Destiny’s Child, Michelle suffered from anxiety after years of being negatively compared to her bandmates. “For a lot of folks, it was Beyoncé, Kelly, and ‘that other girl,’” she writes. The singer was bombarded with negative thoughts, like, “Maybe they’re right. Maybe I should quit. Maybe I’m not talented. Maybe I am a joke.”
Though she suffered for years, Michelle wasn’t diagnosed with clinical depression until she was 30 – years after she left the group – when she went to see a therapist. Nearly a decade after that she checked herself into a treatment facility after having suicidal thoughts following a breakup with her then fiancé.
In her book, Checking In, she aims to remove the stain of shame from mental illness and to encourage people to seek help if they need it. “Depression is an assassin,” Michelle writes. “It acts like a silent, slow killer. And if you don’t deal with it, it can just swallow you up.” Michelle urges her fans, and anyone struggling to check in and not ignore their feelings of depression and anxiety.
Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Also called major depressive disorder or clinical depression, it affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. It can cause trouble doing normal day-to-day activities, and sometimes feel as if life isn’t worth living.
More than just a “bout of the blues”, depression isn’t a weakness, and you can’t simply “snap out” of it. Depression may require long-term treatment. But fortunately, most people with depression feel better with medication, psychotherapy or both (Mayo Clinic). The National Institute of Mental Health (NIH) lists experiencing the following signs and symptoms most of the day, nearly every day, for at least two weeks, as a likelihood that you may be suffering from depression:
• Persistent sad, anxious, or “empty” mood
• Feelings of hopelessness, or pessimism
• Irritability
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
• Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities
• Decreased energy or fatigue
• Moving or talking more slowly
• Feeling restless or having trouble sitting still
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
• Difficulty sleeping, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping
• Appetite and/or weight changes
• Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts
• Aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems without a clear physical cause and/or that do not ease even with treatment
If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.
If you would like to speak to someone about better managing your stress and anxiety, or to make an appointment, please call (717) 782-6493 for more information.
Sources:
• Depression (major depressive disorder) - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
• NIMH » Depression (nih.gov)
• Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Opened Up About His Battle With Depression (menshealth.com)
• Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson reveals how he beat years of depression (cnbc.com)
• Black men’s mental health matters (apa.org)
• Michelle Williams On Beyonce, Kelly & Depression: They Had ‘No Idea’ – Hollywood Life
During Black History Month, we are highlighting some of the top Black professionals in the mental health field that many have not heard of.
This week we are highlighting Freda C. Lewis-Hall, M.D., DFAPA, one of the largest and most significant players in the field of medication and pharmaceuticals, and her story as a black female doctor is empowering and humbling.
Born in 1955 in Baltimore, MD, Freda C. Lewis-Hall dreamed of becoming a doctor from a young age.
Her first year in medical school was the most difficult year of her life. Medical school to begin with is an uphill battle, a few weeks into her classes, the steep path became even more daunting when her future husband, Randy, was sent to immediate exploratory surgery to check out a suspicious mass. Cancer. Constant worry and frequent trips to visit Randy started to interfere with her studies, though she persevered and somehow passed her exams, and Randy was on the mend.
The good news was short lived however, as tragedy struck over summer break when her mother unexpectedly passed away from a stroke. The shock of the unanticipated loss while attempting to care for her family and Alzheimer’s-stricken grandmother drained her physically and emotionally. She returned to medical school ready to take a leave of absence, fully aware that the chances of her returning if doing so would be slim.
By chance, on her way to request leave, she ran into her mentor, Dr. Lasalle D. Leffall, Jr., a legendary surgeon and professor. He listened as she spoke of her rationale for leave. He told her that he believed in her promise as a healer and as a leader and understood the pressures. Was she ready to give up on a dream that she had since she was six?
Freda went on to earn her B.S. degree from Johns Hopkins University and her medical doctorate from Howard University in Washington, DC.
Freda spent her first few years as a medical professional working on the frontlines of psychiatric care, earning recognition as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. She was also an associate professor of the Department of Psychiatry for Howard University.
She then transitioned into working behind the scenes in a career in biopharmaceuticals bringing her expertise and experience of years in the field of psychiatry and mental health into the process of developing medication. She served as Pfizer, Inc.’s Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President until the end of 2018 and as Chief Patient Officer and Executive Vice President during 2019.
In these roles, Dr. Lewis-Hall expanded outreach to patients, reshaped the focus on patient engagement and inclusion, improved health information and education and amplified the voice of the patient within company culture and decision-making. She was responsible for the safe, effective and appropriate use of Pfizer medicines and vaccines.
Among her other various accomplishments are:
Freda C. Lewis-Hall, MD is tough, to say the least, and her continued involvement in mental health makes her a role model for aspiring psychiatrists and mental health professionals.
During Black History Month, we are highlighting some of the top Black professionals in the mental health field that many have not heard of.
Today we are highlighting the first Black male and female to receive their PhD in psychology. Francis Cecil Sumner, PhD, and Inez Beverly Prosser, PhD.
America’s first black female psychologist, Inez Beverly Prosser, PhD, was born around 1897 to Samuel Andrew and Veola Hamilton Beverly in the small town of Yoakum, Texas. Not much is known about her early years besides the fact she was the oldest daughter of 11 children. A bright student, she graduated valedictorian from Yoakum Colored High School in 1912 and then went on to receive a degree in teacher training from Prairie View Normal College where she was also valedictorian. Though common today, in her time, education beyond high school was not common, especially for a woman. Even more unheard of was an African American woman with a college degree.
Inez Beverly
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