August Declared Global Black Mental Health Awareness Month by Black Therapy Central and Other Black Organizations

RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- August is now Global Black Mental Health Awareness Month (GBMHAM) declares Black Therapy Central and other Black organizations to recognize that Black people, regardless of location, face similar mental health issues and self-hatred problems caused by the trauma of global systemic racism. The specific mental health needs of Black people around the world are distinct and therefore separate from other groups. Black Therapy Central launches the campaign in conjunction with other Black organizations focused on the need for improved collective wellness and the restoration of humanity within Black communities. BTC asserts that to deal with Black mental health challenges and elevate above them, solutions must be presented that address the interrelated issues. The organizations will host various GBMHAM online and offline activities so that individuals, businesses, and families can directly and openly address challenges that impact Black mental health.

The awareness campaign stands on four principles: one, Black people are not a minority, rather a global majority. The minority designation perpetuates self-defeating attitudes and self-destructive behaviors; two, Black people have unique and specific needs that should not be marginalized or lumped together with other underrepresented groups in America (or elsewhere); three, Black people are connected not only culturally and genetically throughout the world, but they also have similar underlying mental health issues as a result of external causes, like global, anti-Black, systemic racism; four, that many individual and local Black mental health challenges are symptoms of a larger global created problem.

"There is a tendency for Black people to think we are isolated in our challenges, but we [therapists] understand that for Black people around the world have mental health commonalities," said psychologist and Black Therapy Central Co-Founder, Dr. Mawiyah Kambon.

"Black people have been targeted as we have seen hundreds of cases of Blacks killed or mistreated due to medical malpractice within the healthcare system during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We have been discriminated against in China and used as lab rats for the COVID-19 vaccine testing by foreign entities in Africa. We have seen brutal police killings and beatings of Black people globally," said Dr. Kambon in an interview about why this day was declared.

"The countless global atrocities against Black people have inflicted so much trauma that we need dedicated time to focus on healing and self-care. The trauma is ongoing, therefore the work towards mental wellness must also be continuous. Global Black Mental Health Awareness Month is a step in the right direction towards a unified effort for Black people to globally heal from an African-centered mental health perspective."

GBMHAM coincides with other progressive Black awareness initiatives in August, like the historical political awareness efforts of Black August and Marcus Garvey's birthday. At BlackTherapyCentral.com visitors can play stress relief games, attend webinars, take the 10-Day Healing Journey, and find Black therapists.

To get involved in Global Black Mental Health Awareness Month campaigns Black Therapy Central welcomes people, groups, businesses, and wellness and mental health professionals to visit: www.blacktherapycentral.com/gbmham

Press contact:
Monique McDougal                                                    
1-919-729-6509
[email protected]

SOURCE BlackTherapyCentral.com