By Darius Stovall, The Modesto Bee, February 10, 2021
“You are not depressed” is a sentence that I have heard in my family a lot.
As an African American man, the word “depression” was colored as dirty, better yet heresy. Mental health was not viewed as something that I needed to be a successful Black man. I needed God, good test scores, and connections to people who could put me in places I couldn’t get into by myself. Black culture and mental health have always been as separate as the East from the West. But this has to change, because good mental health is essential for success.
Getting through high school at James C. Enochs was a breeze. My mental health didn’t decline until I attended Modesto Junior College and later California State University, Stanislaus. Being my own man and gaining independence through a promising writing career fueled me to tackle my poor mental health.
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