New Fact Sheet!

“Mental Health in the African American Community” 

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Resource Corner

To learn more about African American mental health, please utilize the following publications and organizations.

Organizations

National Organization for People of Color Against Suicide (NOPCAS) www.nopcas.com
All Healers Mental Health Alliance http://www.ahmha.org/Home.asp
Black Mental Health Alliance http://www.blackmentalhealth.com/index.htm
Black Psychiatrists of Greater New York (BPGNY) www.bpgny.com
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) www.nami.org
Mental Health America (MHA) www.nmha.org
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) www.aacap.org
Depression/Bipolar Support Alliance (DB/SA) www.dbsalliance.org/

Mental Health Resources

The “Let’s Talk Facts” brochure series is designed to promote factual discussion of psychiatric disorders and treatments. 









Depression
What is Mental Illness?
Bipolar Disorder


African American History Fact

Solomon Carter Fuller, M.D., shown above, was the first known black psychiatrist. His biography can be found here.
Did you Know?

The American Psychiatric Association presents the Solomon Carter Fuller, M.D. award each year to a Black citizen who has pioneered in an area which has significantly benefited the quality of life for Black people. Previous recipients include Bill Cosby, Marian Wright Edelman, Bill Cosby, David Satcher, MD Andrew Young, and Tony Brown. This year the APA honored psychiatrist Mildred Mitchell-Bateman, M.D. F.A.P.A. Dr. Mitchell-Bateman was the first African-American woman to be named to a high-ranking office in West Virginia state government. In 1962, she became director of the Department of Mental Health and served in that capacity for fifteen years. To read more, click here

Publications

• Black Pain by Terrie Williams. Williams describes her personal experience with depression and works to reduce stigma of mental illnesses.
  
• Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing GroupWillow Weep for Me: A Black Woman’s Journey Through Depression by Meri Nana-Ama Danquah.
  
• One World/Balentine. Losing Control by Cassandra Joubert. Joubert details her life experiences and challenges with her daughter who has bipolar disorder
• Black and Blue: Depression in the African American Community by Annelle Primm, M.D., M.P.H. Bluerock Productions. Tel. (410) 358-7000
  
• Gray and Blue: Depression in Older People. A multi-cultural video, focused on elderly individuals with depression. Bluerock Productions. Tel. (410) 358-7000
  
• Standing in the Shadows: Black Men and Depression by John Head. Broadway.
  
• Mood Indigo by Melva Green, M.D. A video that focuses on the mental health of college students
  
• 72 Hour Hold by Bebe Moore Campbell. A novel about a mother’s struggle to cope with her daughter’s bipolar disorder. Knopf
  
• Lay My Burden Down: Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis Among African Americans by Alvin Poussaint, M.D., and Amy Alexander. Beacon Press.
  
• Saving Our Last Nerve: The Black Woman’s Path to Mental Health by Marilyn Martin, M.D., M.P.H. Hilton Publishing.
  
• Black Families in Therapy: Understanding the African American Experience by Nancy Boyd Franklin, Ph.D. 2nd Edition. Guilford Publications.
  
• In and Out of Our Right Minds: The Mental Health of African American Women by Diane Brown and Verna Keith. Columbia University Press.
  
  
  
• Page created/modified February 1, 2008