Too Blessed to Be Stressed? Navigating a Taxing Season as a Black Woman
By Kishara Joy Griffin, MSW, Sister Circle Therapist
Season’s greetings. Bringing in the crisp fresh spring air by celebrating National Minority Health Month and National Stress Awareness Month. Cheers to the ever-needed push for awareness around these topics!
Did you know that National Minority Health Month is a longstanding initiative in the US? If you knew, shoutout to you because I had noooo clue at all, haha! After doing much reading on the origins of this month’s awareness initiative, here is what I’ve learned!
National Minority Health Month was formerly known as National Negro Health Week, made possible by Booker T. Washington in 1915. The creation of National Negro Health Week was a solution to the health disparities Black people faced during that time; the goal of this initiative was to provide Black patients the access to Black providers to address illnesses like tuberculous.
In 2002, National Negro Health Week became National Minority Health Month, an initiative recognized for all people of color to promote education by encouraging health organizations to implement appropriate health services in communities of color suffering health disparities.
As this National Minority Health Month is in conjunction with National Stress Awareness Month, I’d be doing a disservice to not provide facts related to stress and how it may impact the Black community.
Stress is a mental and physical response to an individual’s challenges. Often stress can look like changes in personal appearance, fluctuation of or low moods; it can feel like pressure on the mind and body. Some of the common factors that can trigger stress in the Black population are the post-slavery impacts of systemic inequality. These factors have played a role in increasing stress levels in heavily populated Black communities and include, but are not limited to, racism, environmental racism, lower wages, poor access and health care services, dysfunctional family structures, and minimum social support.
More specifically, reported by Healthline, “1 out of 2 Black women suffers from some type of heart disease, per the American Heart Association — much caused by stress related to race, gender, or income.” Adding to the report, Healthline mentioned that Black women experience chronic stress at higher rates and are most at risk to produce cortisol, further implying Black women being at higher risk of comorbidity than others due to stress.
Stress can be a silent struggle, but with all the initiatives to bring awareness to the challenges of stress, we can speak open about its impacts and work towards the reduction of stress in our lives through the support of available resources within our communities. Stress does not have to be the dark cloud hanging over one's head in the time of free access to mental health services and growing health care initiatives.
Remember, as we move through the month of April: prioritizing health — both physical and mental — is not just a one-month commitment, but a lifelong journey. For communities of color, addressing health disparities means advocating for equitable healthcare, seeking culturally competent support, and embracing wellness practices that nourish our minds and bodies.
As we continue the conversation around wellness, I am hopeful that we can break down stigmas and support the ever-needed balance we seek to maintain our lives.
Sources:
How Stress Affects Black Women and Tips for How to Manage