Maia Campbell and Mental Health in the Black Community

There is a video on the internet of Maia Campbell from In The House. i only saw a chunk of it, because I don't like watching people be exploited. I don't think it's funny or fair. And then I found out that she is schizophrenic or bipolar or just one of the two. Either way, she is tortured daily and does not take medicine what that will help her because of their side effects.

So I won't laugh at her for acting crazy or being crazy and I won't call her crazy because its about time that in the Black community we stop either shutting our eyes to mental health issues or laughing at them as a way of numbing our own discomfort with the issue.

So now, instead of talking about it, I'll be about it. All of my life I have been tortured with depression and anxiety and suicidal thoughts. I am lucky enough to never have taken any drastic or desperate actions, but the pain has been the same. I understand why people self mutilate, I understand why people are so tortured that they take their lives. In the past, I have laid in bed all day and all night, unable to get work done. I have cried myself to sleep, I have been so anxious and wound up that I couldn't sleep for more than an hour at a time. The worst part was that I never understood it. I dont have a fucked up life. I have a great family, a good life, a good brain, good friends, my health.. I never understood why I was unhappy. But chronic depression is something that you don't choose. It's a card you are dealt.

I am lucky to have a doctor I trust. With her help, I am on medication that has taken most of the cloud away. It allows me to wake up in the morning and get up without 20 mins of telling myself I can do it and today is going to be a good day. It has taken away the voice that tells me that leaving this world might be a better option. It has allowed me to cope in a way I never thought I would.

There is help out there, and people on medicine or people in therapy aren't weak. We aren't crazy we are just like you. We have a disease, and luckily we also have a cure. If you need help go get it. If you think a friend woudl benefit from talking to someone tell him/her to take advantage of that health insurance and find a good counselor. Life can be different. I am proof.