It seems from first sight that racism is in the past. It appears that discrimination is impossible in a democratic state. That slavery and murders of the back people are just a page of history. But the horrible past is repeated nowadays. There are many cases of police brutality concerning black communities representatives in the 21st century. The cases of murders and injuries cause physical and moral harm.
Let’s analyze the consequences on the mental health of the black’s community members. There is some information about post-traumatic stress disorder and other emotions. The moral condition of victims, their family members, witnesses, and black people who get information about the violence is analyzed. Unfortunately, this problem is underestimated in society.
Table of Contents
Consequences of a trauma
There are many victims of police brutality. Taking a look at police brutality essays you’ll get more facts about that violance. Some of them died, and some of them were wounded. The second category survives, but those who try to recover need not only medical but also psychological help. The bad experience of being beaten influenced further lives of the black community members and their social connections. These people feel their insignificance in society. They tend to have depression and self-destructive behavior. Someone cries every day and has terrible reflections, and someone wants to revenge.
And panic attacks become a common problem among the victims. It is called post-traumatic stress disorder. When police officers, whose role is to protect, are using physical violence, the feeling of being defenseless appears. People don’t know where to ask for help when the police commit crimes. Black community members often feel biased and discriminated against. The fear of Afro-Americans is based on their previous experience. And the most horrible fact is that they live with the feelings mentioned above for years and can’t find any understanding from society.
Consequences for victims’ family members
The family members of the murdered usually face post-traumatic stress disorder too. Philando Castile, a victim of American police, was killed in the eyes of his wife and child. Many families have a similar experience. Each family member of a killed person needs a long time to recover from tragedy. Such people can’t eat or usually sleep and have trouble with concentration. Some of them think of suicide because their nearest person died because of the police’s physical violence. The impossibility of finding support makes the recovery process more difficult.
Consequences for the witnesses
“I could be in someone’s place” is the common thought of every witness. They could violate traffic rules, like any Afro-American who was shot during the stop. During their lifetime, the witnesses are fighting with their memories and may face panic attacks in any similar situation even if a threat doesn’t exist.
Fear because of the news and social networks
Even those who are not victims of the police have trouble with their mental health. They listen to police brutality statistics in the media and read any book with horrible pictures. And face hate because of their race in social networks. These people see racist content in their everyday life. Cases of depression become common among this category of people too. They have a fear of being beaten or killed. African Americans often don’t ask for psychological help because they experienced bias and inequality earlier. The grief of one black family becomes a problem for the black community. They transform someone’s tragedy into themselves and suffer too.
The bottom line
The issues of mental health problems in black communities are underestimated. They need psychological help; otherwise, they will feel anxious, fearful, depressed, and think they are a worse class. The first step to resolving this problem is not to be silent and spread information about bias, inequality, and impartiality cases related to black communities.