The Black Superwoman & Mental Health

Relatively recently it has been acknowledged that Black women too often experience extreme psychological distress such as depression, anxiety disorders, panic, phobias, fear, eating disorders, low self-esteem, loneliness from social isolation, PTSD/PTSS, emotional pain, suffering, and suicide to name a few. Mental health conditions both negatively or positively affect their physical health and wellbeing. For example, depression is found to be associated with an increased risk of hypertension and other chronic illnesses such as diabetes, asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and arthritis (Badescu et al. 2016; DeMoss et al. 2020; van Tuijl et al. 2023; Webb, 2022).

We, Black Superwomen, have a long history of denying our mental health challenges. The status of Black women’s mental health has always shown up in our physical reality and, currently, we are in another moment of awareness that seeks to clarify the health consequences and costs of the Black superwoman trope. Originally published in 1978, Michele Wallace brought to our attention the myth of the Black Superwoman highlighting our struggles and humanity. More recently Marita Golden in 2021 explored the same issue interviewing Black women about the hidden mental health crisis surrounding their lives. Her book offers crucial stories about how important it is for Black women to ask for help, learn strategies for healing, and build self-care into their lives.

Unfortunately, when we do strive to heal ourselves, we encounter difficulties concerning access to care. So, we must creatively and collectively develop innovative avenues of care for ourselves. We, Black (Super)women, must prioritize our health and wellbeing not alone but also in concert with other Black women who are on similar journeys. Conferences such as the Annual Strong Black Women Redefined Conference (Renaye) offering self-love healing retreats organized for and by Black women, and podcasts like Therapy for Black Girls (Harden-Bradford) are designed to help. Today, there are a range of actions, methods, and expressive therapies to help soothe the soul, but many of us don’t take advantage. Reading The Black Superwoman and Mental Health: Power and Pain is one step not only for ourselves as individuals, but for our communities as well. We must continue the early education of Black girls and other women towards healthier mental and physical wellbeing.

It is not easy to reveal oneself and to be vulnerable in a public way as the authors in this book have done. This is the act of resisting the voices and social scripts that say we do not air our "dirty laundry", we should keep "secrets" to remain safe, yet unhealthy. Audrey Lord encouraged us to speak out as our silence will not protect us and it will certainly harm our psychological and physical health and well-being (Van de Mortele, 2016). Therefore, we must find safe spaces to speak our truths, to heal. We sincerely thank these authors of poetry, short stories, essays, and research for their contributions as they bear witness to many of the circumstances that inform our lives. It is through the process of seeking, doing, and being, sometimes in private counseling (or psychotherapy), that many of us learn to acknowledge, analyze, speak, and eventually write the truth of/about our lives and to move closer to being whole black women.