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Effect Of Racism On Mental Health

By Joie M Gahum | Update Date: Feb 10, 2017 08:10 AM EST

An advocacy in naming racism as a factor that contributes to the mental wellness of a person is being sought from the government. A paper from Dr. Mary Bassett explicitly describes how racism is becoming so universal that is beyond normal and is threating the mental health of people.

Congressman Shirley Chisholm believes that at present, the government has turned a blind eye on racism and how it is affecting the mental health of its people. In an excerpt she had quoted from a book, the evidence on how black people were normally perceived to have poor health and how this belief and norm in society have transcended in this generation is shortening their life spans, Huffington Post reports.

Being black, according to the politician is not just depended on the genetic condition of their natural skin color, not a living condition and is not due to its ill-informed life decisions. Being black in the society derived a connection between social relations of race and class. Racism, in fact, is concentrated so much with the blacks that they have been always placed in the lower strata of the working force, oppressed and continuously endangers their mental wellness.

Meanwhile, The APA Organization stresses on the fact that chronic conditions of stress that are mostly attributed to several factors, including racism has several negative effects on a person. Racism and discrimination create a daily dose of stress affecting the psychological health of people. Understanding that race-related stress has a big impact on the physical, psychological and mental well-being of a person will play a big factor in naming and addressing racism to a better mental state of mind for people.

The congressman's goal is to protect and promote mental health by explicitly naming racism as a reason for the nation's deteriorating mental health. Further analysis of racial oppression and acting against it to be able to improve lifespans and decrease infectious diseases by fixing racism and poverty, creating a healthier environment for a better mental health becomes feasible.

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