Did you know that July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month? The purpose of this month, in part, is to draw attention to the fact that many “minorities” in the United States do not seek help for mental health issues because they worry that they won’t be treated well by caucasian mental health professionals, that they’ll become lost in the system, or that they won’t be able to connect in a useful manner with mental health professional with a different ethnic background. Although Sarah Fruchtnicht’s moving account of her friend’s suicide for psychcentral.com isn’t overtly connected to National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, the account of how a close friend missed the signs of depression in a bright, young black man is timely. Here’s an excerpt, and we hope you’ll click the link provided for the full story. And if Sarah’s description of Don’s behavior sounds familiar, please give us a call.
I saw the news Monday morning that there was a jumper on the Williamsburg Bridge. In a city of eight million people it’s not uncommon news. The report said: black male in his early 30s, no name, a note was found in his briefcase.
They emphasized how he had snarled early-morning traffic.
A person commented on one news site: “This city will chew you up and spit you out.”
Four days later I would learn that man was my long-time friend Don. He had stopped traffic. What may have appeared to be an inconvenient commute was actually a lot of joy and light leaving the world.
No one was sure of what had happened, many of my friends hadn’t spoken to him in months, if not years. But it wasn’t by choice — he was just so adept at losing touch with people.