Racism, Trauma & Mental Health: The Inconvenient Truth-Handout: Slides

Handout: Slides
Pdf Summary
The document titled "Racism, Trauma, and Mental Health: The Inconvenient Truth" is a presentation from the American Psychiatric Association. It was written by Dr. Ernestine Briggs-King from Duke University School of Medicine and UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress. The document discusses the intersection of racism, trauma, and mental health, with a focus on the impact on youth.<br /><br />The document acknowledges that racism is a source of trauma for people of color and can result in various physical and psychological symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and sleep difficulties. It highlights the prevalence of trauma among children and adolescents, estimating that 25% to 61% are exposed to at least one traumatic event.<br /><br />The document also discusses racial trauma, which refers to the ongoing individual and collective injuries caused by race-based stress, including threats, humiliation, and witnessing discrimination. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing and addressing racial trauma in mental health services.<br /><br />Strategies to reduce mental health disparities for youth in under-resourced and minoritized communities are also presented. These strategies include investing in cultural responsiveness training, measuring racial equity in agency programs, involving impacted communities in decision-making, and implementing interventions at the systems level.<br /><br />The document provides various resources and assessment tools for clinicians and educators to address racial trauma and promote cultural responsiveness. It also emphasizes the importance of adopting a cultural humility framework and challenging implicit biases.<br /><br />In conclusion, the document highlights the need for addressing the mental health consequences of racism and provides strategies to reduce disparities and promote racial healing. It encourages individuals and organizations to commit to social justice and engage in radical healing to create a more equitable and inclusive society.
Keywords
Racism
Trauma
Mental Health
Youth
Anxiety
Depression
Prevalence
Racial trauma
Cultural responsiveness
Implicit biases