In "The Mental Health of US Black Women: The Roles of Social Context and Severe Intimate Partner Violence," Lacey et al connect intimate partner violence to different stages and types of mental health disorders for Black woman. For Black women, the struggles of discrimination add on to the factors of mental health issues: "Perceived or direct exposure to discrimination can cause distress and adversely affect mental and physical health." (Lacey et al, 2015). Having to deal with this much internal strife and pressure can cause a severe amount of pain and distress for a Black woman regarding their mental health.
Black women suffer especially from intimate partner violence: "Black women experience IPV at comparably higher rates than women of other ethnic and racial groups. Physical acts of IPV have been associated with psychological consequences, such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder substance use and suicide." (Lacey et al, 2015) . IPV puts Black women at risk for Mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance disorders, eating disorders, alcohol abuse, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), bulimia, anorexia, and major depressive episodes that include PTSD and suicide ideation among Black women.
Lacey, K., Parnell, R., Mouzon, D., Matusko, N., Head, D., Abelson, J., & Jackson, J. (2015). The mental health of US Black women: The roles of social context and severe intimate partner violence. BMJ Open,5(10), BMJ Open, 19 October 2015, Vol.5(10) This page was created by Brandon Daley.