Stress is one of the deadliest killers around, and it’s having a field day with Black people.
“The stress of being a Black man is killing Black men. And it is killing me,” said healthcare executive and mental health advocate Kevin Dedner, who started seriously thinking about this issue after the murder of George Floyd. “The verdict made me physically ill. I was paralyzed with sadness. Numb.”
Blackfolk lead in all the wrong ways regarding stress-related illnesses and deaths. In other words, we’re on top of nearly all the wrong lists.
An article on healthline.com, “How stress affects Black women and tips for how to manage,” by Andrea King Collier and Delores Smith-Johnson, said this: “For Black women already living with chronic health conditions, stress can worsen those conditions. And when stress is not managed well, its effects on the body increase. Black women are 50% more likely to receive a high blood pressure diagnosis than white women.”
What are some of those stresses that are triggering negative health outcomes for Black people? The stresses that come with poverty, living paycheck-to-paycheck (which is a reality for many regardless of income), micro-aggressions at the job, health-related issues (including lack of access to healthcare), institutional racism on the macro level and the personal level, societal gaslighting (denying racist policies, intentions, outcomes, etc. and saying Black people are imagining things), etc.
And it’s not just Black adults who are stressing out. Black children are suffering from high rates of stress-related issues.
And that has produced an unacceptable reality – Black children committing suicide at rates growing faster than any other demographic.
What can we do about it?
Here’s what.
Proactive ways to manage stress
Make proactively managing stress a priority. This can be done by adopting routines and habits that provide a sense of calm and wellness. Here are a few things you can do.
Prioritize Sleep: Regularly getting a healthy amount of quality sleep allows your body and mind to get the rest and recovery it needs from the stresses of driving, eating, walking, studying, Air BNBing, etc. while Black.
Eat right: What we put into our bodies either helps or harms our physical, mental and emotional well-being. The more junk you put in, the more junk (i.e. stress, health-related issues) you’ll get out. Things to reduce: processed foods, caffeine and sugar. All these have been found to exacerbate stress.
Exercise: Regular physical activity (walking, swimming, jogging, etc) releases endorphins, which have mood-boosting and stress-reducing impacts.
Practice mindfulness: Deep breathing, meditation, yoga, positive affirmations and activities that speak to your passions (art, gardening, listening to music) can help calm your nervous system and promote relaxation.
Chill in nature: The great outdoors can have a great impact on your overall well-being. Just being in nature has been found to have a calming effect on people, thereby reducing stress levels.
Get in community: Western society, which is overly committed to individualism, regularly ignores what scientists and ancient African spiritualists have known for eons – because human beings were created for connection, we do better mentally and emotionally when we are in a supportive, uplifting community. Can you be in a community with a crew that brings you down? Yes. Does quiet, alone time have its stress-reducing benefits? Absolutely. But don’t get it twisted – every aspect of our biology, physiology, psychology, etc. is made better when we “find our people,” our tribe, our community. And stress reduction is just one of the benefits.
Limit Screen Time: It has been found that excessive screen time can contribute to stress. It’s also been found that watching (and even talking about) the non-stop videos of the Black death at the hands of police or others negatively impacts our mental and emotional well-being. Add to this, Western society’s longstanding tradition of anti-Blackness (via TV shows, movies and especially news broadcasts), and you can see why limiting screen time can be stress-reducing.
Counseling: Talking to someone, be it a friend or a professional, can offer you a path to relieve and reduce stress.
