Mental Mini: Racial Trauma

Happy Saturday Minis!

This episode is late but it has been a rough couple of weeks, I had to take some time to regroup and get it all together (self-care and a new internship experience has taught me so much in the short month). I posted about this episode last week, and as you'll heard of the episode, this episode concept changed so many ties over the course of the past week and a half. Recent news of George Floyd passing lead me todays episode. Im becoming a mental health professional (hoping to specialize in trauma) because my community is constantly trying to heal from racial trauma and abuse. This conversation that is way over due.

News like this takes a toll on the black community as a whole, everyone feels the ramifications. We have seen decades of injustice and deadly force used by police officers and now the community is expressing feelings of rage and anger.

The community is now trying to heal from racial trauma and the experiences and I just wanted to educate us more on what Racial is. When traumatization is due to experiences of racism it is sometimes called racial trauma. Racial trauma may merit a DSM-5 diagnosis of PTSD, according to DSM-5 when there is an identifiable index trauma. A traumatic experience may be as direct as exposure to physical and sexual violence up to and including actual death, repeated exposure to traumatic information in a work setting, and indirect exposure by way of receiving news of a traumatic event involving a close friend or loved one. Racial Trauma effects Black people, People of Color and Indigenous people, now and have been for decades.

Racial trauma can result from major experiences of racism such as workplace discrimination or hate crimes, or it can be the result of an accumulation of many small occurrences, such as everyday discrimination and microaggressions.

A change is needed; we can act in different ways to support the community, we can protest, donate, sign petitions and use your voice to speak awareness. For the people don't share the same experiences, aren't people of color or black; educate yourself and those around you. Speak up for what you believe in.

Florida Bail out Fund:

Miami - (F)empower Community Bond Fund

https://www.paypal.me/freethemall

Orlando - Community Bail Fund

https://communitybailfund.org/

Florida LGBTQ Freedom Fund

https://www.lgbtqfund.org/donate-1

Donate to Breonna's GoFundme:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/9v4q2-justice-for-breonna-taylor

Petition for Breonna Taylor:

https://www.change.org/p/andy-beshear-justice-for-breonna-taylor

Listen to hear some of the symptoms to watch and monitor. Remember, I am not a replacement for a licensed mental health or helping professional.

Black Lives MATTER.

Love & Light

Williams, M. T., Metzger, I. W., Leins, C., & DeLapp, C. (2018). Assessing racial trauma within a DSM–5 framework: The UConn Racial/Ethnic Stress & Trauma Survey. Practice Innovations, 3(4), 242–260. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pri0000076

IG:Myblackmentalhealthpc