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Hip-hop is one of the world’s most popular music genres, with its global prominence transcending language and geography. More than ever before, hip-hop artists are publicly acknowledging their mental health struggles, promoting anti-stigma campaigns around mental health, and normalizing seeking treatment for mental health issues.

 Hip-hop can be a vehicle for tackling stigma around mental health and addressing cultural imbalances. Hip-hop connects with groups that healthcare has historically struggled to reach, particularly men within the Black community. Underrepresented communities are at higher risk of developing mental health problems, and they are more likely to experience worse mental health outcomes. This is, in part, due to socioeconomic disparities. They are also less likely to use mental health services. Stigma around mental health issues is common in underserved communities, and it is a substantial barrier to accessing health services. Discrimination, bias, and a lack of cultural competence from healthcare professionals can also lead to unmet needs, late presentation of symptoms, and poorer quality of care.

For those who embrace hip-hop music and culture, we believe this medium could facilitate engagement, help normalize mental health, and promote seeking access to treatment. In addition, there is hope that the awareness gained from engaging with resources related to mental health and hip-hop can provide new ways for opening up conversations between health professionals and patients (such as asking if the patient likes music, and whether any particular genre, artist, and/or song resonates with how they are feeling at the moment). Health professionals do not need to have any knowledge of hip-hop. Culturally sensitive and context relevant approaches might open up more patient centered ways of building trust and deepening discussions about mental health, which can otherwise feel very stigmatizing. Likewise, understanding how mental health is portrayed in hip-hop can offer a different perspective for healthcare professionals, helping them to build empathy with someone whose experiences may be completely different to their own. This knowledge might also help health professionals to be more aware of any potential trends that link the contagion effects of suicide, self harm, and self medication from hip-hop icons to some of their patients, and to be prepared for this.

Hip-hop is an art form filled with passionate expression, and its lyrics resonate with people all over the world. Art and culture are powerful mediums for self expression and for translating experiences. It can also help shape perceptions, challenge opinions, bridge communication, and help to understand other people’s points of views. Since the genre’s conception almost five decades ago, hip-hop’s progressive narratives have increasingly addressed stigma around mental health problems. Hip-hop artists are speaking candidly through their art form, and they may be helping people around the world to acknowledge their own inner struggles.

Read more on BMJ.com.

Racism and mental health are closely linked. Discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity can cause or worsen mental health conditions. It can also make accessing effective treatment more difficult. Racism refers to the systemic oppression of certain racial groups. This can manifest in several ways. Stereotyping, hate crimes, and economic inequality are just a few examples of the impact that racism has, all of which can have a detrimental effect on mental health.

Racism also affects a person’s or group’s ability to access resources, including mental health treatment. This occurs for many reasons, but in the United States, economic disparity and health insurance are significant factors.

Although rates of mental health conditions are similar across white, Black, and Latinx adults in the U.S., rates of mental health treatment are not.

The amount of Black and Latinx people with a mental health condition who received treatment was significantly lower than that of white people. The NIMH did not investigate why this was the case, but it is likely that there are multiple obstacles preventing people from accessing support.

Health insurance can be one such obstacle. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2012–2014, 38.8% of Latinx people, 33.2% of Native American or Alaskan people, and 22% of Black people aged 18–64 had no health insurance coverage. The figure for white people was 13.7%.

Gender can also influence how people of color experience racism.

For example, one small 2014 study suggests that some Black women identify with the “strong Black woman” stereotype, which includes characteristics such as resilience, self-sacrifice, and self-reliance.

Although these can be positive traits, the researchers say that moderate or high identification with this stereotype correlated with increased levels of stress and depressive symptoms. This may be due to the pressure that this stereotype places on Black women to be strong at all times.

Additionally, Black women can face discrimination on the basis of their gender and their race simultaneously. In 2017, 3.7% of Black women experienced severe psychological distress, compared with 2.6% of Black men.

Racism impacts mental health in a variety of ways, and it may cause or worsen a number of mental health conditions. It can also cause racial trauma, which affects both individuals and communities.

Seeking support from people who understand what it is like to experience racism may help reduce the negative impact of racism on mental health.

Read more on MedicalNewsToday.com.

In order to highlight pockets of excellence across the country, the NNED selects a partner organization to highlight once a month. Angels in Motion (AIM) has been selected as the Partner of the Month for December. 

Angels in Motion (AIM) is an women-own and operated nonprofit organization that serves communities in Philadelphia fighting drug addiction in youth. They offer diverse mobile syringe exchange and program services, as well as providing “blessing bags” which contain food, snacks, clothing, hygiene products and resource information to obtain help when they are ready to youth. Their goal is to break barriers and spread awareness one life at a time with the hope to one day bring an end to the negative stigma attached with the disease of addiction and provide those in need with the proper care and enough love to support them on their road to recovery and a new life.

The programs and services that are currently offered include:

• Mobile Syringe Exchange (MSE) – Exchanges new syringes for used, also providing testing, resources and information for reducing the risk of HIV and Hep C and other harm from drug use and providing linkage for medical, legal and social services. The MSE also provides Overdose Prevention Training and Narcan to a population vulnerable for overdose.
• Certified Recovery Services – AIM provide referrals to drug treatment, inpatient as well as outpatient, resources to supportive housing, they also provide information for scholarships for recovery houses to assist people until they get back on their feet, and non-judgmental supportive services for those figuring out their road to recovery.
• Blessing Bags – Deliver over 2,000 nonperishable snack bags to individuals in different communities across Philadelphia monthly. These bags are usually the first line of communication. They are filled with a juice, snacks and an informational flyer with resources and AIM’s phone number.

Learn more about Angels in Motion and the variety of mobile sensitive, non-judgmental services to meet individual’s needs. AIM’s services are designed to meet the needs of individuals not judge them. AIM is trying to prevent barriers and assure easy accessibility to medical care and social services.

View a list of previous NNED Partners of the Month.

For Listiner Martinez, the holiday season never brought feelings of merriment. Coming from an abusive home, she said, she never really celebrated the holidays. Martinez said she tried to move past that feeling when she had children, but sadness around the holidays still lingers.

“I typically look forward to when the holidays are over with,” said the West Ridge mom of three who has been diagnosed with depression, anxiety and seasonal affective disorder — a mood disorder that occurs at the same time each year. Diet and exercise are tools Martinez uses in her mental health journey, but so is therapy.

Before the pandemic, the mental health advocate said she was seeing her therapist once a month. Then Martinez was diagnosed with breast cancer in January. After surgery, the stay-at-home order meant Martinez wasn’t allowed to bring someone with her during chemotherapy, which started in April.

“I tried to adjust … but it really took a toll on me emotionally,” she said. “I had people who would check in on me. Friends would video chat … but it was just overwhelming.”

Dr. Aderonke Bamgbose Pederson, instructor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said mental health challenges are more likely to have an impact on people of color, especially in Black communities.

Public stressors created by the pandemic often worsen for people in the communities most impacted, she added. Data has shown that people of color for example are more likely to get the coronavirus.

“When we look at this year, racial trauma is a compound stressor,” she said. “You have multiple different stressors in terms of the pandemic that disproportionately affects these communities already at greater risk.”

Multigenerational family households are also more common in Black and Hispanic communities, she said. The pandemic adds pressure in families with members at high risk, creating different levels of burden.

Adrienne McCue, founder and CEO of Step Up For Mental Health, realizes people are struggling. As the child of a late parent who had schizophrenia, McCue created the nonprofit to help families dealing with mental health issues. Step Up volunteers offer one-on-one peer support to clients by phone or video conference once a week for an hour in four-week or eight-week timeframes. The organization assists different populations with small grants and resources, including the bisexual community.

“Don’t wait till things are extreme or severe. Get support, and get help early,” Bamgbose Pederson said. “Create spaces for yourself and remember that this, too, shall pass.”

Read more on ChicagoTribune.com.

COVID-19 is again surging in the U.S., with the nation on Sunday surpassing 11 million cases. The increase has led officials in some states, such as Michigan and California, to impose another round of lockdowns in an effort to curb virus spread. 

Effects on mental health are just one of the ways the coronavirus has impacted Americans. The first wave of lockdowns in the spring took a toll on the mental health of many, with suicidal thoughts in U.S. adults nearly doubling in June, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The 18-24 age group was one of the most affected, with some 25% reporting having suicidal thoughts. 

The authors at the time pointed to social isolation, unemployment, financial concerns, and a lack of school structure as possible stressors for many in the age of coronavirus. 

When pushing back on Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s decision to temporarily halt in-person learning at high schools and colleges in the state, Dr. Scott Atlas, President Trump’s coronavirus adviser, told Martha MacCallum, the host of “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” on Monday night that he “doesn’t agree” with the move, citing possible mental health effects as a top concern. 

“I don’t want to see the figure that one in four Americans, college students, age 18-24, thought of killing themselves in June because of the lockdown,” he said when referring to the aforementioned CDC report. (Atlas also noted that lockdowns are the “upspoken tragedy” among the elderly.) 

Young adults aside, the pandemic has also affected the mental health of even younger Americans, with a more recent CDC report, published Nov. 13, finding that mental health-related emergency department visits among children 18 and younger have increased this year. 

“The vast majority of youth will be resilient in the face of even severe stress or trauma,” Dr. Tali Raviv, the associate director of the Center for Childhood Resilience at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, previously told Fox News when discussing the signs a child may be mentally distressed and how to help them. “However, there are some children that may experience some lasting mental health effects. This becomes more likely if they have experienced a direct threat to their own safety (such as not having enough food or stable shelter, being very ill themselves, or seeing a loved one who is very ill) or experience a death or loss due to the coronavirus.”

“Children with pre-existing mental health problems are also at higher risk for more lasting mental health concerns,” she added. 

Raviv recommended ensuring physical and emotional safety, building and maintaining healthy relationships, and supporting and teaching skills for coping and emotion regulation as key ways to help children cope during these uncertain times. 

“Parents should be observing their child’s behavior and noticing changes so that they can support their coping,” she advised.

Read more on FoxNews.com.

When Joe Delpino learned there were 119 veterans living on the streets of the Lowcountry, South Carolina it became personal.

“I’m humbled by what these guys do to serve our country and I want to try to help them as much as I can,” said Delpino, a retired Navy captain and past president of the Exchange Club of Daniel Island. “I went to the board of directors and said we’re going to drive that number to zero.”

Project ZERO is an initiative by the Exchange Club of Daniel Island to help house all the homeless veterans in the eight-county area around Charleston. It works in partnership with Veterans Matter, a national program that secures permanent housing for homeless veterans and their families.

“There are over 37,000 homeless veterans in our country and that is a complete travesty,” Delpino said.

Veterans Matter collaborates with the U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to identify homeless veterans and find them suitable housing. But when housing is found, there is often a funding gap because the veteran does not have the required money for the first month’s rent and deposit. Veterans Matter and Project ZERO provide the funding to fill that gap and secure immediate housing.

“The program has a 91% success rate of keeping them housed, which I think is phenomenal,” said Delpino. “HUD subsidizes the rent for the first year and the VA provides medical and mental health services along with job training and placement services that help the veterans get back on their feet. It’s such a positive thing.”

Nationally, Veterans Matter has housed more than 4,000 veterans and locally, Project ZERO has housed 43 of the 119 homeless veterans. Delpino estimates they need about $49,000 to secure shelter for the remaining 76 veterans. “It becomes very local, very personal,” he said. “Those guys are sitting in our streets … these are our people … let’s go fix that problem.”

Delpino said this is a particularly vulnerable time for our veterans. Homeless people are more susceptible to infectious diseases like COVID-19 and the pandemic has eliminated many fundraising activities for advocacy groups like Veterans Matter. Project ZERO’s primary source of funding so far has been the veteran’s dinner at the Daniel Island Club, where the initiative kicked off last year. But that dinner was canceled this year due to COVID-19, leaving Project ZERO with a funding shortfall.

“I would love to get them all housed for Christmas,” said Delpino. “These guys have suffered and done so much, it’s endearing their commitment to this nation and our freedoms.”

Read more on the DanielIslandNews.com.