WHY IS THE POC EXPERIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH DIFFERENT? C/W: mentions of various types of abuse. Stigma Within PoC Communities
Gaslighting
In a lot of PoC cultures, mental health is still not a concept understood or respected by more conservative cultures. Hence mental illnesses like depression is dismissed as weakness or even laziness, and anxiety disorders are disregarded as overreacting.
Gaslighting is a form of emotional abuse that’s seen in abusive relationships; it’s the act of manipulating a person by forcing them to question their thoughts, memories, and the events occurring around them.
Ultimately these dismissals of mental health can be summed up as a general inability to listen and respect other members of their communities. What can exacerbate this issue is in a lot of cultures, there’s a general obsession with the concept of ‘saving face’ [maintaining one's social standing, reputation, and honour]. Because mental issues is seen as shameful and since these communities are so obsessed with preserving an outward appearance, the need to hide mental health issues becomes more urgent and desperate. As a result, a vicious cycle forms and their mental health suffers even more.
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It occurs when our struggles with mental heath are dismissed as ‘weakness’ or ‘overreacting’ by our family, when our parents minimise their abusive behaviours towards us and attempt to tell us we are wrong or it didn’t happen. It’s important to recognise gaslighting when it occurs and to trust your own memory and feelings and don’t let anyone invalidate how you feel or what you remember.
