[align=left]Awareness: The Key to Black Mental Health
Dr.Naim Akbar

An increasing amount of rhetoric and discussion accompanied by a decrease in effective programs have come to characterize our orientation and attack on economic, social, political, and psychological problems of African people within the confines of the United States of America. Unfortunately, it has become more fashionable to offer extensive Marxian or other such impressive but distant theoretical descriptions of the problems confronting our people than it has been to provide relief from the economic blight still faced by a growing (yes, growing) number of black people. Drug use, Black—on—Black crime, suicide and other symptoms of social - emotional unrest increase despite the resounding cries of "Beautiful Black," how "together" we are, what the "honky" has done, is doing, or will be doing to us. The essential problem is that we have not followed through logically or practically on the awakening of the sixties during which an awareness began to surface of the dynamics of our condition in this country and in other parts of the world.
Black psychologists and professionals in other mental health fields have decried the application of inappropriate norms to the assessment of our problems. With few dissenting votes, we have condemned things such as IQ tests, personality inventories and other measures of psychological characteristics as inappropriate and destructive to our well—being. We have condemned white researchers and mental health workers as unqualified to define and provide solutions for the morass of problems which confront us. At the same time, we have so far failed to come forth with viable alternative solutions, which take into account our increased awareness of our condition in this country along with our true and historically legitimate characteristics as African people.[/align]
[align=left]Let me assume that all of us have heard the basic arguments that have been put forth against the traditional conception of mental health problems. For those who are not aware let me recommend Black Rage by Grier and Cobb, and Dark Ghetto by Kenneth Clark as early attempts to analyze the mental condition of the black people of this country. The error made by these accomplished black scholars is that they redefine the cause and character of the mental health problems confronting our communities within the traditional context of Western psychology including its emphasis on pathology in their assessments. These social Scientists fail to fully accept a proposition implicit in their works - that most of the basic tenets of psychology have grown out of the attempts that Western men have made to understand the mental problems which occur within and as a consequence of their environment. The two premises that render such notions inappropriate to the problems of Blacks are:[/align]
[align=left](1) We are Africans (i.e., non-Western) in our basic dispositions; and[/align]
[align=left](2) the quality of our environment (by the mere factor of oppression) is systematically different from the environment which Western writers use as the point of departure for understanding their condition.[/align]
[align=left]John Orley in Culture and Mental Illness, Freud in Civilization and its Discontents , and many other Western theoreticians have espoused the notion that mental illness is the price paid for "social development" or increased "civilization." The assumption here again is that increasing civilization and meaningful social development are directly proportional to the degree to which a people come to resemble the people of the Western world in their interactions, manners and concerns. In fact, though, these writers unwittingly provide a warning to people of the world that a pervasive backdrop of real pathology lies within the constructs of what is revered as Western culture. American racism in its most insidious and sundry forms is only one of many symptoms underlying the insanity, which characterizes the Western world. This fact alone represents the certainty of mental disorder for African people who find themselves in a social setting controlled and maintained directly or implicitly by Western people. This style of black disorder is what I have referred to in an earlier paper as "white psychopathy." "White psychopaths" are black persons whose familial and cultural experiences have so duplicated the modal white experience in this country that they have in fact developed a Western consciousness which disposes then to markedly similar disorders as those experienced by Euro-Americans within their cultures. Most of the neuroses as we know them in America are unknown in cultures with limited contact with European values. Disorders such as female frigidity, sexual perversions, and extreme anxiety are essentially unknown in cultures with drastically different value systems and social organizations.[/align]
[align=left]The treatment implication for Blacks with emotional problems of this nature is two-fold. On the one hand such individuals probably represent a sample of people who have systematically denied their disposition as African people. Secondly, these "patients" have overly identified with the wider cultural milieu to the extent that within their minds they have become Euro-Americans. To assist people suffering from such problems, it is necessary that we understand the nature of the Western mind which makes then vulnerable to such disorders and the characteristics which African people have assimilated leading them to the development of similar disorders. I suggest to you that one of these characteristics is the Western notion of individuality, which denies the interdependence of self and others. The idea that each person should "do your own thing" is an attitudinal construct which moves us away from the necessary control of our behavior by our own communities. There is no doubt that much of the distress experienced by black people today has to do with their passionate attempt "to do their own thing" and their discovery (often too late) that they have no "thing" to do. The priority value for any social group is the "thing" which assures the survival of that group first and secondarily the individual as a member of that group. It is no wonder that a growing group of middle-class black women have lost the innate disposition of sexual responsiveness. Many of these women have defined their "own thing" as the degree to which they can look, act, and feel like Elizabeth Taylor, Racquel Welch or other such models of white aesthetics. It is no wonder that we become depressed to the point of suicide if our growing preoccupation is the extent to which we have out performed our neighbor in a competitive situation which was without meaning or substance to begin with. There is growing evidence that the increase of suicide among black people is directly proportional to the extent to which those people have identified with the Euro-American value system which emphasizes the autonomy of the individual while simultaneously attributing all blame to the individual. [/align]
[align=left]Treatment for disorders such as these must rely on expanding the individualistic consciousness. The concept of consciousness is derived from the Latin phrase con scio, which means "with knowledge." The helping person must concentrate on expanding the personal awareness and knowledge of the individual to better appreciate the aspects of the self, which are being denied in their attempt to follow faulty models. Those who are familiar with traditional methods of counseling and psychotherapy will recognize the proposition presented here as similar to the goal of most traditional counseling. This recognition is accurate. Implicit in the notions thus far presented is the idea that to the extent to which we have identified with Western people, we have also come to share much of their condition. Some of the methods, which have proved "effective" in the alleviation of that condition for them may, with appropriate modifications, be used in the alleviation of problems which we have developed because of our assimilationist attempts. An example of this proposition lies in the analogous introduction of venereal disease on the African continent by Europeans. Antibiotics are the treatment of choice for such a condition despite the fact that the origin of these diseases is based on the cohabitation of Africans and Europeans. We might extend the analogy by suggesting that although antibiotics may be effective in alleviating this unfortunate physical malady, Africans might have been protected from this disease had they the knowledge and been able or willing to protect themselves from the kind of contacts which led to the initial development of such conditions. [/align]
[align=left]In other words, I am suggesting that the traditional methods of increasing self-awareness by psychotherapy and counseling must be supplemented by systematic and structural instruction about the nature and acceptance of self. The parroting of European values and behaviors must be replaced by what a close friend and eminent colleague, Dr. Phillip McGee of Stanford University, has called the " restoration of African consciousness." The limitations of this discussion will not permit a full elaboration of this concept but it essentially challenges us to better understand and adopt those communal values and dispositions which underlie the survival of our people who, by all Western notions of physical and mental strength and endurance, should not have survived - but did![/align]
[align=left]Oppression Disorder[/align]
[align=left]A second general classification of mental health problems of African people includes those disorders that are direct products of a colonialist system of oppression. I recommend the major works of Frantz Fanon (1963, 1967) for an exhaustive description of the dynamics of these ailments. Briefly, these are disorders which represent the self-defeating but adaptive attempts to survive in a society that maintains a system which renders your physical survival (when it occurs in conjunction with your basic African disposition) almost impossible. The pimp who maintains the African disposition of masculine assertiveness and flamboyance may become a sadistic brute and colonialist-like exploiter of his community. He is struggling to actualize these characteristics in a society that has defined the concept of masculinity as inconsistent with blackness and self-confidence as "******" arrogance. The junkie searches for an escape from a system that begins with a definition of him or herself as zero and systematically subtracting from them all factors that might increase their self worth. The junkie then attempts to sustain this form of escape through devices of theft, murder and indiscriminate destructiveness. The system then responds by perpetuating, (free of charge) the absence of consciousness called addiction while curtailing the detrimental by—products. Consequently, although the junkie’s awareness of self may be their most valuable asset in group and personal liberation, they are fed a solution like methadone which makes them safe, though asleep. [/align]
[align=left]There is much to be learned by a critical analysis of the work of one of the most effective social change and therapeutic agencies for Blacks in this country , i.e., the Leadership and Organization of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Regardless of the philosophical or ideological differences one might have with the Nation of Islam, we must recognize that Elijah Muhammad has accomplished with his followers what the "sophistication" of all Western technology, psychology and theology has failed to accomplish. The most superficial components of Elijah Muhammad’s teachings for the resolution of mental health problems within this category have to do with knowledge of self and self-help. The Muslim woman who recognizes and receives respect commensurate with the worth of a glorious black woman is incapable of becoming a prostitute. A junkie who has committed himself to the building of a nation based on equality, freedom and justice for himself and his kind (even by such a simple act as selling newspapers on a street corner) has no place for the "sleep" afforded by drug addiction. The alcoholic is unable to flood his body with poison when he or she believes in the essential beauty and worth of that body. [/align]
[align=left]In other words, I am suggesting that the key to treatment of this wide range of disorders (which represent attempts to escape self) lies in the basic acceptance of self and vehicles for the maintenance of self. Giving methadone to an addict with no job or job skills to provide for himself and those he loves is like putting out a fire with gasoline. Let’s be very clear that I am not referring to token programs that seek to rehabilitate by teaching basket-weaving when everyone uses plastic bowls. We are suggesting here that clear-cut procedure for the development of self-reliance must be provided. It is important to recognize the service needs of the communities where we live (and let us keep in mind that there is no end to the flight of whites from sharing of environments with Blacks) and prepare people to fulfill these needs. There are basic necessities from the provision of food and shelter to the manufacture and maintenance of technology that we must learn to depend upon ourselves to obtain. From entertainment to the reeducation of our children, after they have been subjected to a day’s worth of programming from the public schools, can be provided by the systematic training of many people who we have given up on because of their attempted escape by the use of drugs, prostitution, alcohol or other methods of self-destruction. The key here is that people who know themselves will love themselves and, if permitted, take excellent care of themselves.[/align]
[align=left]Organic Disorders[/align]
[align=left]I shall not spend extensive time on these conditions of universal occurrence. These disorders are primarily caused by physiological disorders within the occasional biochemical mutations of nature. We must, however, be ever cognizant of the interaction of the physiological with the psychological and of the psychological with the social. High blood pressure has been shown to have a markedly low rate of occurrence among people who have control over their basic life processes and who effectively manage their diets. As the pressures of urban living increase and the vehicles for alleviation of these pressures (such as the availability of jobs) decrease, the hypertension and many similar disorders show a marked increase. Many of the psychoses and especially "true" schizophrenia are increasingly being demonstrated to have biochemical bases. (I make a distinction here between what is in fact a basic disturbance in organizational and perceptual processes based on a biochemical imbalance and the unique behavioral patterns - such as paranoid adaptation, which I have discussed elsewhere - based on attempts to cope with an untenable and hostile environment). In such instances let us be made aware that most of the chemicals for the alteration of consciousness came out of African Science and spiritual practices, and the use of herbs and other forms of plant life to correct chemical imbalances. The difference between African administration of these drugs and the indiscriminate use of drugs by the Western medicine man is the Western emphasis on behavioral modifications rather than alterations of consciousness. The witch doctor applied his chemicals along with systematic re-education and community involvement as the treatment of choice for disorders of this nature. Family therapy is a recent arrival in the Western package of treatment for mental illnesses. Traditional African healers always engaged the entire milieu of the identified "patient" in the treatment process. Consequently, even in instances where the disorder can be identified within the somatic make-up of the individual, the person’s re-involvement with their social group involves not only their individual treatment but a cooperative re-socialization within the known and identified social group. [/align]
[align=left]One additional example may further substantiate the point being made here. Senile psychosis and depression are described as natural deterioration of the nervous system -a function of the aging process. It is interesting to note that these disorders in Blacks have increased in incidence as our treatment of our aged has come to parallel the Western man’s treatment of his aged. As we remove our old people from the on-going living process by depositing them in tombs for the living (called "old folks homes"), we also initiate the deterioration processes which take on physiological characteristics. With the loss of meaning and activity of the mind, the body succumbs to death. [/align]
[align=left]Even in situations where the available knowledge suggests that the disorder is one of physiological origin, we must be in tune-with the critical variables that bridge that artificial Cartesian dichotomy of mind and body. We must be ready to cross that connecting bridge without an overemphasis on either mind or body. [/align]
[align=left]An underlying dictum throughout this discussion is the importance of sensitive diagnostic differentiation. Essential to understanding and treating mental disorders of African people (and all other people for that matter) is a sensitive ability to differentiate what is a condition of the environment; what is a condition of the individual; and what is the nature of the interaction between the two. This is the first step toward the classification and consequent application of treatment procedures to a particular disorder. The implication here is that the mental health worker must begin with sensitive self-knowledge that frees him from the biases of imposing an irrelevant theoretical conception on a reality that he does not understand.[/align]
[align=left]Conclusion[/align]
[align=left]This discussion formed on three basic assumptions about the mental problems of African people within the U.S.A.:[/align]
[align=left](1) the basic dispositions of African people differ from the basic dispositions and values of Europeans;[/align]
[align=left](2) the condition of oppression accounts for a wide range of mental disorders among African people; and[/align]
[align=left](3) deliberate attempts hamper knowledge of self (i.e., of group and environment) are the dynamic basis of mental problems among African people. Based on these assumptions, from a sensitive understanding and diagnosis of mental disorders, the treatment of choice becomes an initial effort to increase the individual’s knowledge of himself and his kind. An understanding of the system of oppression (awareness) is the hallmark of making systematic attempts to alleviate the condition of oppression and in turn, the behavioral consequences thereof. [/align]
[align=left]The most insidious device working against effective correction of mental disorders is the naivete of the mental health practitioner. Again let me refer to traditional African society where the healers were widely informed members of the tribe, not only in terms of the secrets of healing but in self- understanding and knowledge of the philosophical underpinnings of the tribal organization. This is a training that was passed down from father-to-son or mother-to-daughter, implying a need for lifelong skill and personal development. The ineptness of most contemporary mental health workers is a greater cause of ineffective treatment than any other single force.[/align]
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Even a dig too deep into history/revolution can confuse the average weed smoker.

I haven't read you post cause my dinner is ready but did you take into thought that we ARE diffrent from white people, a people of multi god background should not be treated the same as others, we have a diffrent back ground all together and too many white psyciatrists attempt to make comparisons with themselves claiming that we're all the same when we aren't.

I could go on but I haven't read anyting and my dinner is ready....

I smell chickhen!

Well breadfruit,

I did take the time to read your entirestatement, and I smoke weed. Just not when concerning issues like these. To often I see my beautiful black people misinformed and all to confused to even want to tackle this issue. But I think we all know we need to. It effects every African American no matter at which level in society we interact. To some extent African Europeans as well, however the history is quite different. I thank you for taking the time to help me expand my consciousness.

However, I do have a few humble questions.

1. Naturally, the theme is assimilation. But lets say the "patient" has a full recovery and has fully excepted his identity and African ways, how does he/she co-exist in this current American or European society? Unfortunately the rules have already been set.

2. You mentioned "restoration of African Consciousness", are you refering to an "African Renaissance"?

I agree with most in the paper, though only thing I don't like about it is the fact that it doesn't offer more of a solution. I honestly believe that if culture adopted a more eastern philosophical/spiritual approach to life, as far as Self-Enlightment and Ego-Death we would be far better off. It touches on the topic with the reference Eli. Muhammad and the Nation of Islam.

The fact that our reality is in many cases being intepreted from a non African perspective

In extension "African Consciousness" to me is simply the understanding of the struggle, white supremacist, have been waging against our people's sense of identity and culture, since the arrival of those first kidnapped Africans in the Americas.

On arrival, our names were changed to those ofwhite menwho would latermurder our men and women, rape our men and women, work to death our men and women, for centuries and then tellour traumatised people "you are now free." -

- have never and will never be certified to truly understand, diagnose, treat and counsel Africans. This is something Africans will have to do themselves.

- The power of any peoples comes from their ability to build. We can't build our identityon the works, ideas or culture of others peoples.

This is what a non African mind tries to do, which is in my opinion causes great mental conflict and disorder.

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Exactly, I'm not sure but it could be said that we are the only peoples that go through schooling and then have to go out and search for our own part of what has been told. Ie; African history PRE slavery and not flat rate,

''we found you guys in boxes pre packaged around the same time some guy went looking for india, you were hanging around in trees and doing nothing so we brought you knives and forks and made you ''civilized'' ''

As though we wereattacked by forces from Mars with metal objects, boats and shoes scattering lazy negros as they went...

Bollocks...

Its a cue in itself for a child not to trust any white person, an ingraving of pain at a young age. It really must divide friends, psycologically at least,in school classes. Splitting them with a lesser - greater divide. The teaching of that crap in schools is what carries on into society on the outside, the lack of respect europeans and other cultures have for us, most coming out with comments such as,

''What have black people contributed to society?''

''They have nothing so they make up stories to fill a past that was never theirs''

I could literally go onto another fourm where a talk about Africa was being discussed and bring those quotes back to you, I've heard them many times.

A lack of understanding and setting of mistrust taught to kids in school.

To then find out that what has been told inthose lessonsis based on a lie is to further that mistrust completely, finding a past and history thats rich in culture and prehaps so scary contribution wise that it defies belief.It mademewonder what morals are behind it all, I mean mis-educating children to intergrate them into some self hating,society full of misunderstandingis just low in my opinion, way below the belt, and its not just us either, the Muslems are going through it as are other races, the Irish for examle. Its just lucky for these people that they have their history esablished so its easily taught if it isn't in school... thats not the same for us especially as us disporate africans hardly even know where we're from in Africa, most being so confused theywouldn't even call themselves that not knowing that there weren't any Africans in the Carribean before the Amer-Indians were killed off, we were introduced to that land from all the diffrent corners of Africa.

(The Olmecs of course having intergrated into the Amer-Indians)

Theres seemingly no information on the wars that were fought at that time what I'd call a forgotton war, theres no talk of what Africa has contributed to so called modern society and so without this it leaves a MAJOR gap in a childs esteem, to then go into how we are persecuted within society, including the lack of REAL peers, peers that the people can relate to... gangster figures teaching kids to fight but in the wrong way, the target being moved to our own brothers as though to facilitate self hatred even more....

There are also parenting problems thatneed to be taken into account. Many people come into europe/america with stories to tell, people that haveliterally fought toget into these countries and then fought tobring upchildren within them. People with no parents themselves, families lost in wars and other situations. Having to fight to survive, from spanish town Jamaica through the ghettos of england and rasie children along the way... Let me tell you, people from rough backgrounds have to develop within them survival methods that those psycriatrists (sp) would not understand... They no longer cry in the same way a fat and happy £20 an hour doctor would... and they don't rasie their children in the same way either.

I know of parents who have lost their minds trying to raise their children against the odds, abusive backgrounds, and all the problems of being poor in such a souless society with no morals all this makes for childeren who are of a diffrent, ''ilk'' as they say, children of a diffrent mind, lost and confused in way that would leave a Darwainian following Fruedian thinking doctor baffled at

1) how fast they grow up.

2) Their interpretation of the world.

3) Their lack of will to actually work within that interpretation of the world*

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I honestly believe that if culture adopted a more eastern philosophical/spiritual approach to life, as far as Self-Enlightment and Ego-Death we would be far better off.

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Same here, its something I've taken to and will teach my children. Our belief systems are much closer to the eastern peoples than the west, the west is more of a cold place and too money orientated... its a shame that they're seemingly trying to spread this way of life across the world. I'm actually thinking about leaving england for somewhere less stressful but Im not sure where. I've heard Ghana is nice but my parents seem stuck to europe for holidays so I'd have to take a trip there myself.

An African rennissance is needed, we're all to stuck in our colonial set countires and its fragmented our collective consiousness, we were one but now we're American - Ghanaian - Nigerian - Jamaican - Brazilian - ?British? - etc and lost within it all.

My dad didn't have a dad and so in many ways I was left without one myself. Itmademe question myself identity wiseas we were never close, to then be taught all that crap in school didn't help and so like most on here I went on a book hunt, loosing myself in history, cultures and spiritualitytrying to peice it all together. We have a close relation to thepeople of the Far east,get past the stiff customs they've adopted and they actually know this,African customs are extemely close to the way theirs was in China/other far eastern nations. Even the in fighting is part of their history. The Ethiopian ''Oneness'' philosophy matches the Buddahaist (sp) philosophy... I've read books by African shamans who say that the tribes people of Africa achive enlightenment in the same way they strive to do in the east

(at least until the communist ''no religion or practices''came along anddestroyed it to oppress them into a 9-5 work system... ring any bells?)

*Gangster but revolutionary, the theory that most ghetto children have taken up drug selling and wheeling and dealing as a way to avoid a nine to five exsistance. Living outside of society through mistrust... Replacing the standard 9-5 work drone ethic for a fastpaced life with a disintrest in physical well being. Prehaps even self destructive, from what I've seen.

It would be cool to hear about a solution, self education is just the beginning,in my opinion at least... its not easy out there. I think some kinda turn awayand just go with things because its easier. Marry a nice european because theres now, ''some thing wrong with black people'' that they don't want to understand rather than it being something they've given thought to... or been through for that matter.

I'm very opinionated btw, plz feel free to dismantle my posts/topics cause I kinda loose myself in things trying to put my point across. Hope i made sence.

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Perfect Sense, Brother, good post!

Cool. I like the quote in your sig. Can I borrow it?



I'm talking about evolution in another forum and that sounds like a cool quote to drop in the mix... amazing one actually, perfect for a anti evolution discussion.

London-based folks may be interested in this event....this is text from the flyer

************************************************** ************
Nex Generation presents
A Lecture by Dr Joy De Gruy Leary

"Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome: Let The Healing Begin"
Friday 17 March 2006 - Friends Meeting House, Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ

Dr Leary - an assistant professor at Portland State University - reminds us that, " The transatlantic slave trade ...marks a period of human trauma rarely equalled. Millions were forced onto cargo ships bound for unknown lands that included Brazil, The West Indies, Europe, and the United States among others. More importantly, the end of slavery did not end the oppression. While Africans and their descendants managed to emerge with great strength, they also carried with them centuries of physical, psychological, and spiritual injury, followed by systemic racism and institutionalised oppression.

Dr Leary's book, "Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome" explores our past's influence on our present for the purpose of promoting healing, sustained growth, and continued advancement for all of slavery's children. The book will be on sale at the event.

************************************************** *****************
For more on Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome see http://www.posttraumaticslavesyndrome.com/h_index.html