Circumstances of police brutality have an effect on the psychological well being of black Individuals

By Amy Norton
HealthDay reporter

TUESDAY, April 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) – As America awaits a verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, new research finds such high-profile police killings of blacks can be psychologically stressful across the country.

The researchers found that black Americans, on average, reported an increase in “days of poor mental health” in weeks when more than one fatal racist incident was on the news.

These incidents often included hate crimes, but most concerned the police killing of black people or legal decisions either not to prosecute or not to convict an officer involved.

In contrast, the study found no change in white Americans’ mental health ratings during these weeks.

The results may sound intuitive, said lead researcher David Stuart Curtis, an assistant professor at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

“On the one hand, it feels like a ‘yes, of course’ result,” he said.

Curtis added, however, that it is difficult to get good data on how people are mentally doing before and after such events.

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And he pointed out that most of the study participants actually did not report days of poor mental health during the survey period.

Still, black Americans showed an average increase consistent with racist incidents that attracted national attention.

“We must be aware that these incidents can have an impact on the population,” said Curtis.

According to Curtis, there are several possible reasons. For some people, events on the news could be a reminder of racial trauma they or their families experienced, he said. For others, they can trigger a “shared grief and sorrow”.

Especially in cases where the legal system fails to take action against the officials involved, feeling injustice can take a toll on mental health, according to Curtis.

The findings – published April 19 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences – come as the nation awaits a verdict on Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer on trial for the murder of George Floyd.

The investigation period spanned 2012 to 2017 – before the Floyd assassination in May 2020, which sparked widespread US protests. The period included the 2014 deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, killed by police officers in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City, respectively, and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement.

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Curtis ‘team evaluated Americans’ mental health ratings using data from a federal health survey that surveys more than 400,000 U.S. adults each year.

One question asked people to estimate the number of days in the past month when their mental health was “not good”.

On average across the study, black Americans reported an additional 0.26 days of poor mental health in weeks where two or more racist incidents were in the national spotlight.

People can have different reactions to the “vicarious experience of racism,” said Ryan DeLapp, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

According to DeLapp, who was not involved in the new research, this can range from a feeling of numbness to fear and anger.

No clinical mental health diagnoses were assessed in the study. However, according to DeLapp, there is growing recognition that racism can cause symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in some people.

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Conversations about racism and racial trauma can be awkward, even for mental health professionals, DeLapp said. However, there are some standard racial stress questionnaires out there, and he suggests that therapists give them to new patients as part of their standard “inclusion” assessment.

Then they can let patients know that a conversation can take place if they want. “This way, [patients] are in control, “said DeLapp.

Outside of therapy, people can buffer themselves against racial stress, and that’s exactly what many do when faced with a chronic stressor, DeLapp noted. People find ways to get along and be resilient, often by relying on the community.

DeLapp suggested that when it comes to social media – and being exposed to messages and images of racial violence – people give themselves enough time to go offline. This can give them an opportunity to process their feelings, he said, and also “connect with other things that affirm your worth as a person.”

But ultimately, according to DeLapp, the work must fall on the systems in which racism is embedded.

“The responsibility shouldn’t lie with individuals,” he said.

More information

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Mental Health America has more to do with racial trauma.

SOURCES: David Stuart Curtis, PhD, Assistant Professor, Family and Consumer Studies, University of Utah, Salt Lake City; Ryan CT DeLapp, PhD, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City; National Academy of Sciences proceedings online, April 19, 2021