Mental Health Monday #53: Stress management advice from SZA's mom + parenting while black, quitting heroin, etc.

Good day, winner. Welcome to another round of Mental Health Monday, your weekly dose of stories, resources, and motivation for your everyday life. On last week's edition, T-Kea Blackman shared how seeing powerful, beautiful Black women in Black Panther was a form of self-care; things to know about dealing with toxic people, and much more. Come get some.

THIS WEEK'S GOODNESS

"SZA’s Mom Has The Best Advice For Handling Stress: “You Can Even Eat An Elephant One Bite At A Time”" by Victoria Uwumarogie [Madame Noire]

SZA’s mom said it also helps to know what tasks you need to undertake and which ones you can share or hand off to someone else who might be better suited to handling the task. Knowing when not to take on everything solo when you don’t have to and not being afraid to ask for help can greatly curb one’s stress.

The latest episode of Pointless Talks Podcast "is a snippet of my views on the ignorance that comes with being black/Caribbean and dealing with mental health and the idea of therapy."

"The Stress of Parenting While Black Can Take a Toll on Mental Health" by Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez [The Root]

Unfortunately, the amount of time black parents must dedicate to educating their children about the world’s biases doesn’t just limit their children’s ability to explore the world around them; it also has a significant impact on parents’ mental health.

Alex White is already planning for “the talk” with her young son, A.J., but he’s only 8 years old, and she’s unsure what to say.

“What worries me the most when A.J. leaves the house is that I feel he’s never fully prepared for the world. They say have ‘the talk,’ but what does the talk include? Black males [and females] are a target for all types of discrimination, injustice and negativity. I never know if I’ve covered enough to prepare him for the world,” White says.

Also important:

"I want black men to see that other black men do struggle with their mental health - and that it's ok to speak about it."

After seeing her brother's struggles with depression, Luli's on a mission to break the stigma in the black community. pic.twitter.com/YSAaGXMu1x

— BBC Stories (@bbcstories) March 16, 2018

"Quitting Heroin in the Sunshine State" by Colton Wooten [New York Times]

My drugs of choice were heroin and cocaine, both of which I took intravenously almost daily for many years, beginning in high school. I had been diagnosed early in life with major depressive disorder and A.D.H.D., had taken Prozac since age 13, and Ritalin and its chemical variants, off and on since age 7. When I first encountered heroin and cocaine, they fazed me no more than any of the other psychotropics that I took to stabilize my moods.

Director Larry Allen recently Ok Series, a short film by Leander Allen Studios about mental health among Black folks and the use of self-medication to suppress emotions and deal with trauma and pain.

If you have a mental health resource, event, or piece of content we should know about, step into our office. You da bess.