Currently incomplet, I expect to spend much time on this article. In the past I wrote mostly about suicide in the "black female" demographic group differently. There I noted a high incidence of suicide attempts among this group. I also noted it represents the least successful attempts at suicide. Intervening supports have saved many black women from suicide. Close friends, close neighbors, tightly woven spiritual bonds held fast in Christian churces come into play. Now I write more and in wider subject areas.

 

African Americans and Suicide

Suicide kills more young black men than in recent history. Denial of mental health disorders adds to their growing suicide numbers. We’re looking at a hidden crisis as a result.

 A taboo subject among many cultures,  suicide occurs as a mental health disorder. Tragically, mental  health issues plague African Americans while young men remain aloof from mental health discussions and mental health help.

My sociological interests in this subject brought me to this short piece of writing. My interests in Tony Morrison’s work also leads me to write these few exploratory lines.  As a matter of accuracy, I use the term demographic group, rather than race.

I can prove demographic groups exist for research purposes, I cannot prove the existence of races in humanity. We are one race. This comment does not show a sentimental yurning. It shows a simple, scientific fact. Humanity consists of one race. I wish everyone else would get on board with the facts..

There are no race genes in our genetic makeup. I'm as likely to find more genetic relationships between a German citizen and a Zulu farmer than between two Germans picked at random.
With this said, we do not live in a post-race era. Racism in various forms exists and will continue to exist because of commercial media, in part. The "Obama era" does not bring an end to racism any more than the end of Hitler meant the end to anti-Semitism.

We've seen an increase in suicide levels among African Americans in general, besides young males. In fact, a disproportionate amount of research overlooks matters of ethnic background and extrapolates information about African Americans from White male examples. This kind of a technique woefully,  inadequately, ignores complex interplay between ethnicity, culture, and class specifics.  We need to account for the different variables for suicide among African Americans.

Drugs

Unlike their white counterparts, African-Americans are also less likely to use drugs during a suicide attempt. Depression among Afican Americans remains more  pronounced. We find depression as part of a life-long burden for many African American women who attempt suicide. Their numbers show a greater incidence of attempted suicide, but a lower number of successes than any demographic group.

Suicide among Blacks

Historically, suicide among blacks has never been a real and serious concern for the handful of sociologists and psychiatrists specializing in suicide research. Why have research scholars and behavioral scientists ignored self-destructive behavior in the black community? Many argue that the reason is because of the lower rates of completed suicide among blacks.  Other, less obvious reasons may exist. For one, the extraordinarily high percentage of white male suicides (73%) take up the lions share of attention.

 

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