Detroit: Mental Health Needs to Be Addressed Now  

Dr. Joanne Frederick, left, a licensed mental health counselor in Washington, D.C.  

What is the state of health in America? It’s in crisis mode, according to reports.  

Nearly 20 percent of adults are facing mental illness, which equates to roughly 50 million Americans with about 4.9 percent dealing with a severe mental illness, according to Mental Health America.  

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health &Human Services, Any Mental Illness (AMI) is characterized as receiving a diagnosable mental, behavioral or emotional disorder that is beyond a developmental or substance use disorder.  

Mental illness can take shape in many forms and young, vulnerable children especially fall prey to this if their caregivers or primary caretakers don’t seek help.  

Michelle Cabrera, executive director of the County Behavioral Health Directors Association, spoke in another NNPA article about the health needs of minority youth. She noted that around the nation — and particularly in California — young people are suffering from a mental health problem, explaining the rising numbers of suicides and high levels of anxiety in schools.    

“The pandemic has also changed the statistics about drug and substance abuse in America,” Cabrera continued. “Data has shown an increase in alcohol and opioid consumption in young people, who are also experiencing a lot more overdoses because of their consumption of fentanyl in the drugs that are used,” she said in the article.    

Locally, mental health is also taking a toll.  

A recent report reveals that students attending schools in Detroit are facing mental-health-related challenges as the pandemic continues on, according to WXYZ.  

The data released on youth mental health is being noted as a desperate plea for help, according to the article. The reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention break down troubling statistics that nearly 40 percent of high school students reported poor mental health during the pandemic, along with 44 percent noting “persistent sadness and hopelessness” in the last year, according to the article.  

The issue is being handled locally in therapy offices and school districts, per the article, and why even more schools are choosing to enroll in the Trails Program, described as an evidence-based mental health service.  

During the 2021 school year, roughly half of kindergarten through fifth-grade kids reported these mental health struggles, according to the article, and at least 40 percent lost a loved one.  

“Those are little people. Those are 5-year-olds, basically, to about 10 years old. Half of them expressed that they felt sad, mad, worried and anxious,” Deputy Superintendent Alycia Merriweather said in the article. “Every single school there are people who dedicate their lives to take care of our kids.”  

“The additional services that we have, we have across all schools. But if the parent doesn’t sign the consent, we cannot offer the services. It is illegal,” Merriweather said in the article.  

A proposal for the 2023 budget entails loan assistance to bring in behavioral health professionals and a day-long treatment program for children in the child welfare system who are facing issues in school and home settings, according to the article.  

A Detroit mother, 31-year-old Azuradee France, was recently charged in June for the murder, child abuse and torture of her three-year-old son, whose decomposed body was eventually found in her basement freezer, WDIV reported.  

According to other news outlets, France has a history of mental illness.  

According to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America, pregnancy and childbirth not only take a physical toll during pregnancy and postpartum, but about 20 percent of women may experience mental health challenges.   

“While increasing awareness of maternal mental health needs has led to various national efforts to improve maternal health care, Black mothers disproportionately face disparities in accessing and receiving appropriate health services,” according to the post. “Regardless of socioeconomic status, Black women have historically experienced higher rates of medical complications (e.g., hypertension, pelvic floor issues, hemorrhaging), poorer practitioner-patient advocacy and communication and fewer postpartum mental and physical healthcare supports. Awareness of these risks puts Black mothers at a higher risk for perinatal and postnatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) such as depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder.”   

Nearby, a Roseville mother, Taylor Starks, 18, is grieving the loss of her 23-month-old son after her friend (and her son’s babysitter) Kimora Launce Hodges allegedly abused him and he eventually died from his injuries. In June. After Hodges was babysitting, Starks went to pick up her son and noticed he “did not appear normal,” and he was brought to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead after emergency surgery.  

Dr. Joanne Frederick, a licensed mental health counselor in Washington, D.C., (who wrote an anthology that covers how to deal with grief and loss) said recently that once enduring a traumatic event, “there is no right or wrong way to feel.”  

“After any sort of trauma, we often can’t do the same things we once did,” according to Frederick. “Give yourself time to mourn, heal and find a way back to a new normal.”  

Also, when facing loss and grief it is important to go through the process in one’s own time.  

“Sometimes we must commemorate and preserve the memory of a loved one,” Frederick said. “We can do so by planting a tree or keeping something that reminds us of them.” 

Njia Kai, a well-known Detroit cultural ambassador, told the Michigan Chronicle that as a mother, grandmother and with deep roots in the city that it’s obvious that something needs to change regarding mental health. 

“One of the things that has been apparent since the emancipation of African American people here in the United States has been the need for a specific focus-directed healing process to restore … our people back to their greatness,” Kai said, adding that slavery still is making an impact. 

“People are not held in bondage and brutalized and terrorized for hundreds of years and just released and told to be pulled up by the bootstraps and be OK,” she said. “There is a lot that needs to be healed in our community. … We need it and I hope that in some small way the things we’re doing is moving [us] in that direction.”