On television, hospitals in the hood are the last place you want to be. Remember St. Elsewhere? Apparently it is scarier in real life. Today’s news report that a sister sat in the psychiatric emergency room of King’s County Hospital in Brooklyn, NY until she died is a case of truth is stranger than fiction. The fact that last month’s incident was caught on tape is a sad commentary on how those of us with mental illness are marginalized, dehumanized and ignored.
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Terrie Williams did not just write a new book, Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We’re Not Hurting, she is boldly embarking on a crusade to save us from ourselves. Why? Because she knows that mental illness is something we just don’t want to talk about. But when we don’t talk about our hurts it can lead to depression and in some cases suicide. Oh, so you thought that was other folk’s problem? No, suicide effects us the black community as well. Statistics from the National Institutes of Health confirm that African American dies by suicide every 4.5 hours each day in this country. Suicides are actually be discussed by some in our community after the alleged murder/sucide of a well-known black couple in Dallas last month.
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