The NNPA is taking a closer look at the stigma of mental illness in the African American community. Link to Part I: blackpressusa.com/mental-health-stigma-still-affecting-african-americans.

It’s no secret that African Americans – particularly teens – are committing suicide at record levels. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide rates have increased by 30 percent since 1999 and nearly 45,000 lives were lost to suicide in 2016 alone.

A June 2019 study conducted by the Journal of Community Health revealed that suicide deaths among black females aged 13 to 19 rose 182 percent between 2001 and 2017, while the rate among black teen males rose 60 percent during that same period.

From 2015 to 2017, 52 percent of black teen males who died from suicide used firearms, a method with a fatality rate of nearly 90 percent. Another 34 percent used strangulation or suffocation, which has a fatality rate of about 60 percent.

Among the 204 black teen females who died by suicide from 2015 to 2017, 56 percent used strangulation or suffocation and 21 percent used firearms, according to the study.

Experts and others have tried to determine why African Americans increasingly are choosing to end their lives. Theories have run the gamut— from the lack of strong father-figures to racism and social media and even the increase in black wealth.

Whatever the reason, the CDC said it’s important to note that suicidal thoughts or behaviors are both damaging and dangerous and should be treated as a psychiatric emergency.

CDC officials also caution that those who have suicidal thoughts should understand that it doesn’t make one weak or flawed.

“Why are we killing ourselves? The lack of treatment of mental illness is the key factor to why suicide is on the rise in the black community,” said Clarence McFerren, a mental health advocate and author who admits to previously having suicidal thoughts as a teenager. Through out my life, I’ve been faced with difficult situations which festered into five mental illness diagnosis— ADHD, PTSD, severe depression, bipolar tendencies and anxieties— and I did not understand what was going on until I took the steps to get help.”

Famed Beverly Hills family and relationship psychotherapist and author, Dr. Fran Walfish said she’s treated hundreds of thousands of children and teens each year and recently she’s seen the number of troubled teenagers who are cutters and dealing with suicidal thoughts, feelings, ideas, plans, and even attempts of suicide.

“There is nothing glamourous about suicide. The one common-denominator shared by all who cut, contemplate or attempt suicide is that they feel emotionally alone in their families,” said Walfish, the author of “The Self-Aware Parent,” and who appears regularly as an expert child psychologist on the CBS Television series, “The Doctors.”

“They feel there is no one person they can talk to about their pain who will listen, validate, understand, and be a safe warmly attuned place for comfort,” she said.

Sam Gertsmann, the founder of Opinion-Lounge, a website for discussing politics, said he’s had extensive experience working suicide hotlines.

“While suicide is a complicated topic, it’s clear that the rise of social media is one of the main causes of the recent jump in suicide rates,” Gertsmann said.

“Social media show users pictures and videos of everyone living better lives than they are; even though these pictures are often staged and paint an inaccurate picture, the brain isn’t able to differentiate and simply sees that everyone else is better off.

“Social media also puts numbers on your popularity— your followers, your likes, your replies. And, no matter how many you have, you’ll always want more.”

Kevin Darné, the author of “My Cat Won’t Bark! (A Relationship Epiphany), believes that the suicide rate among young African Americans is due to the growing list of black millionaires and billionaires.

“Today, we have Oprah owning a TV network, Tyler Perry owning his own studios, Shonda Rhimes owning her night of television on ABC, Jay-Z becoming a billionaire, Dr. Dre selling ‘Beats’ to Apple for $3 billion, and a few Fortune 500 black CEOS, black doctors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs,” Darné said.

“Although racism is still alive, it’s impossible to deny the fact that the rise of a black upper middle class and an increase in black millionaires [contributes to others having lower self-esteem].

“The irony is the more black success that someone sees in various industries could make a person start to wonder about what’s wrong with themselves. Depression and lack of fulfillment can cause people in a rich country to consider suicide … when there’s a huge gap between one’s expectations and their reality, life can seem miserable.”

Next in this series: Possible solutions for those contemplating suicide

At the beginning of this summer, I wrote an Op-Ed for the National Newspaper Publishers Association. I asked for support for the anti-violence programs around the country and many of you responded. For that, I am grateful.

One of the things that I have done over the last 10 years— with the exception of 2018— is host a dinner for the mothers of deceased children in my old hood in Queens, New York. The deceased children all died because of senseless gun violence.

The recent dinners have had mostly the same mothers because Life Camp, the

program that I support, and the residents have held the violence to a minimum.

This year was very, very different.

Instead of going directly to the dinner, I was asked to stop at a church for a wake.

My brother who I grew up with, Marcellus, lost his son, Marcellus, Jr., who was on his way to college in just two days.

Marcellus Jr. was one of the 13 that were shot, and of the nine who were murdered, in last 10 days. I went to the church and saw Marcellus Sr. and I thought of images of him in our childhood.

We hugged the same way I hugged the brothers, the sisters, and the mother of his son.

Only with him, I started to cry. I was home. It was my Hollis family and we were hurting.

They, especially the father and the uncle, helped the whole thing to hit home harder. The way it should.

It reminded me that this wake was not business as usual, but instead it was critical for my own spiritual survival and growth.

We had planned the dinner over a month ago, but the murders and the funerals we couldn’t have predicted.

At the dinner, we recommitted to work on lifting our community. We reaffirmed our love for each other and our work.

Today, I am asking for all my Queens Congress members, City Council members, rappers, and hip-hop success stories to join me in helping Life Camp expand their good work.

I promise to donate more and support more than I have in the past. The time is now what will you do? With great love, all things are possible.

WASHINGTON, DC — Fourth grade students can get a free annual pass to visit more than 2,000 federal recreation areas with their families, classmates and friends. The Every Kid Outdoors Program is an interagency collaboration between the Department of the Interior, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and U.S. Forest Service that provides fourth graders with free access to explore, learn, and recreate in spectacular settings, including national parks, wildlife refuges, marine sanctuaries, and forests.

“Introducing fourth grade students to America’s public lands provides them with limitless opportunities to have fun, be active, improve fitness, and learn critical skills,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. “Visits on class trips or family vacations to the rich variety of astonishing landscapes and historic treasures located on public lands will result in unforgettable experiences and, hopefully, forge lifelong connections to the outdoors.”

The bipartisan John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act, which was signed into law by President Trump on March 12, 2019, authorized funding for Every Kid Outdoors for the next seven years.

To obtain the free pass, fourth grade students visit the Every Kid Outdoors website, participate in a short educational activity, and download a voucher. The voucher is valid for multiple uses between Sept. 1, 2019 and Aug. 31, 2020 to correspond to the traditional school year. The voucher may be exchanged for a keepsake pass at participating federal lands.

The voucher or pass grants free entry for fourth graders, all children under 16 in the group and up to three accompanying adults (or an entire car for drive-in parks) to most federally managed lands and waters. The pass does not cover expanded amenity fees such as camping or boat rides.

The great outdoors make a great classroom. Fourth grade educators are encouraged to take advantage of the wide range of educational programs and tools associated with the Every Kid Outdoors Program. Educational activities, field trip options, information and tools in English and Spanish, and the ability to print vouchers for passes for students are all available on the website.

The Every Kid Outdoors Program replaces the Every Kid in a Park Program that was established in 2015.

The program focuses on children 10 years of age—the age of most fourth graders—based on research that indicates children ages 9–11 are at a unique developmental stage in their learning where they begin to understand how the world around them works in more concrete ways and they are more receptive to engaging with nature and the environment. By focusing on this age group year after year, the program aims to ensure every child in the United States has the opportunity to visit their Federal lands and waters by the time he or she is 11 years old, thereby establishing a lifelong connection to enjoy and protect our American outdoor heritage.