Anxiety And Depression In Afro-americans :: essays research papers fc

Anxiety And Depression In Afro-AmericansA major cause of moral health disorders such as picture and anxietyin individuals is stress. Defined stress is an internal response caused by theapplication of a stressor or anything that requires coping behaviour. Forexample the pressure of a job, supporting a family or getting an education arestressors that can result in feeling and anxiety. Individuals and groups thathave numerous resources or other coping mechanisms are better suit for copingwith stress than are those who lack such resources. As a result, social andeconomic circumstances in North America suggest that the color and Latinocommunities have a higher risk for developing mental disorders than does thenon-black make up of the United States. Hence this paper will attempt to debate how due to socio-economic differences such as money, racism andincreased exposure to violence, blacks have a greater chance to develop mentaldisorders such as depression and anxiety.Some definitions Stress, Depression & AnxietyStress is everywhere in our lives and it can be found in two forms. Thelife of Afro-Americans is filled with both eustress and distress, entirely it is thehigh rate of distress due to socio-economic circumstances that are responsiblefor higher rates of depression and anxiety amongst them.Depression is an emotional state characterized by extreme sadness,gloomy ruminations, feelings of worthlessness, loss of hope, and oftenapprehension, while anxiety is a generalized feeling of fear and apprehension.The number of reported cases combining both depression and anxiety with Afro-Americans has dramatically increased since the civil rights movement, whenscientists began recording such causal relationships. In addition, statisticsshow that the rate of violence demonstrates a positive relationship of mentalhealth disorders within the black community. Studies by Bell, Dixie-Bell andThompson show that Afro-Americans have a 36% higher chance of developingdepression than do non-blacks (Bell, Dixie-Bell, & Thompson, p.53). It is feltthat a portion of these results can be attributed to the high incidence ofviolence and exposure within the black community.Economic DistressPoverty and unemployment are rampant in Afro-American communities in theUnited States. Approximately 65% of the black community in the U.S. live inpoverty or are unemployed (Bell et al., p.53). In comparison to other ethnicgroups, this is the highest rate with the exception of the Latino community at68.7%. The closest group above the blacks are the Chinese at 35%. Not only aremost blacks poor and unemployed but, the future does not look promising in termsof job opportunities for Afro-Americans. This rampant spread head of poverty withinthe black community causes great distress within the family unit.