Military Turns to Black Women for Advice for Suicide Prevention

[Blue_Tires]

Struggling with high levels of suicide among active duty troops and veterans, the US military is turning to a new source for help — black women. Veterans Affairs officials want to know how they can emulate the elements of black female culture that keep our suicide rate the lowest in the nation, according to the National Journal.

The suicide rate for black women was about 3 per 100,000, from 2005-2009, according to the Center for Disease Control. By contrast, the rate for Native American males — the highest in the nation — was 9 times higher, 27.61 per 100,000. Non-Hispanic white males also had a high rate — the second highest in the nation. It was more than 8 times higher than black women’s, 25.96 per 100,000.

The Suicide Prevention Resource Center says that research has shown that black women have greater social support, larger extended families, religious taboos against suicide, and stronger mothering philosophies, all of which may act as protective factors.

However, while black women complete suicides at rates lower than other Americans, we attempt almost as frequently as white women, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) reported. By age 17, 4 percent of black teens, and more than 7 percent of black teen females, will attempt suicide, according to a 2009 study funded partly by NIMH. Despite our reputation as the backbone of the community, “African-American women are [not] always strong and resilient and never crack under pressure,” an SPRC fact sheet says.

This suggests that the military might need to take a nuanced look, focusing on how and why we’re more likely to survive suicide attempts. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see how the military and Veterans Affairs attempts to study and implement these findings.

http://www.dominionofnewyork.com/2012/06/14/military-turns-to-black-women-for-advice-about-suicide/#.T9s7TBdv9Bl

[SemperEadem]

1. ???What?

Despite our reputation as the backbone of the community, “African-American women are always strong and resilient and never crack under pressure,” an SPRC fact sheet says.

AND WE'RE ALSO DEAD-DOG TIRED--DID YOUR FACT SHEET SAY THAT, TOO?

Maybe the deal is that we love our families way too much to selfishly eviscerate them, emotionally, like that. We think of others before ourselves--and suicide IS the most selfish thing a person can do.

[demilib]

2. I must repectfully disagree.

When you do not have half the support system described in this article, you don't think of suicide that way. I am pleasantly surprised that the military is doing this.

[Number23]

3. I don't understand anything about your post

Particularly the part where you've told a black woman that you "disagree" with her disgust at the characterization of black women as being always strong and never cracking under pressure.

[SemperEadem]

5. and I must say

I really don't give a rip.

Live life as me and then tell me about MY freakin' experience as a black woman for the past 52 years, ok?

[Number23]

4. When I first read this, I had the same reaction to that bit

“African-American women are always strong and resilient and never crack under pressure,” an SPRC fact sheet says.

My jaw almost hit the keyboard. And you're right, we're dog-tired from having to always be so "strong" and "never cracking under pressure." We put up with sooo much. The series that the Washington Post did on black women showed unquestionable strength and resilience but it also showed a group of women who can NEVER get ahead because of the dual evils of racism, sexism as well as the fact that most of us are carrying half of our entire families on our shoulders by ourselves. None of the revelations in the Post series came as any surprise to me, not sure how other sisters feel about it.

And we do it because it needs to be done and because we are family and community-focused. More than any other group. Always have been. But damn it comes at a price.

[SemperEadem]

6. Well said, 23

I was just outdone by that over simplification. We "never crack under pressure"? We are under so much freakin' pressure that our adrenal glands are burned out--they pump oceans of cortisol into our blood stream, causing us to thicken around the middle, depositing visceral fat around our internal organs, driving our blood pressure through the roof, bringing on diabetes. Most of us don't sleep well because we have so much weighing on us, waiting on us to roll out of bed so it can jump on our heads before we get to the bathroom.

That report didn't say that while me may not be taking our lives directly through suicide, we are slowly killing ourselves because of the fucking stress and pressure we're not cracking under. Not to mention the fact that we don't have the LUXURY of cracking under pressure. Therein lies the universe of difference here. If we break, everything is ruined, including the lives of our families.

When we break, we're tossed out onto the garbage heap to fend for ourselves. There's no one riding to our rescue. We're not dainty enough to have pity taken upon us. A vast majority of us can't even be considered feminine or deserving of protection because we have to fend for ourselves and our families. There are a fortune minority of us who do get this consideration, but by and large, the majority of us don't.

So, no, we can't break because we don't have the luxury of breaking.

[nofurylike]

7. that was my exact first thought: Black women "don't have the LUXURY of cracking under pressure."

you and Number23 expressed it so very well!! thank you for the insights you always pour forth!

[SemperEadem]

9. Case in point

re: black women and the "luxury" of cracking under pressure

I saw a older black homeless woman yesterday out panhandling for money in DC at the corner of New Hampshire NW and Blair NW. It was apparent that she had cracked under pressure and been thrown out onto the garbage heap to fend for herself. The way in which she was dressed belied the fact that she had lost her dignity--it was so sad that I cried the whole way home. And I cried because there was no one in her life that cared enough for her to take her in and shelter her. I cried because I'm powerless to do anything for her but give her a couple of coins. I cried because be it by financial circumstances or mental illness (and from speaking to her, it was apparent that she was suffering from a mental illness) our so called "christian" nation doesn't give a fuck about the poor and helpless, even though Jesus commands his believers to do so. To them, turning them out on the street to shift for themselves is the christian thing to do.

I cried because there, but by the grace of God, go I. How many of us are just one tragedy away from losing our minds and our ability to take care of ourselves and keep a roof over our heads? How many of us are just one tragedy away from finding out that no one really cares if we live or die?

I'm so at a loss over this.

[NOLALady]

10. So Painful.

[nofurylike]

11. "I'm so at a loss over this."

what you wrote us is powerfully moving, SemperEadem. heartbreaking and enraging.

honestly, i live at a loss over it all, ceaselessly.

[Number23]

12. Nail meet hammer

How many of us are just one tragedy away from losing our minds and our ability to take care of ourselves and keep a roof over our heads?

Truth. Scary, painful, hard to swallow truth.

[nofurylike]

8. well, they're turning to the right people, but clearly missed the "why"

as expressed so well in this thread.

thank you for posting that, and for this thread, Blue_Tires.