The Intergenerational Impact of Structural Racism and Cumulative Trauma on Depression

Should We Trust You? Strategies to Improve Access to Mental Healthcare to BIPOC Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Structural racism has been documented throughout macrolevel systems that normalize disenfranchisement and marginalization based upon race, ethnicity, immigration status, and other intersectional identities (Hankerson et al, 2022 ). Importantly, structural racism is the “totality of ways in which societies foster racial discrimination via mutually reinforcing inequitable systems” (Bailey et al, 2017 ).…”

Anxiety-Related Disorders in the Context of Racism

“…Everyday racism may include racial microaggressions • Social anxiety disorder (SAD) [ 39 ] • Anxiety-related disorders (panic disorder (PD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)) [ 21 ] Daily exposure to racism has been linked to social anxiety disorder (SAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and panic disorder (PD) Internalized racism The negative, racist views towards POC exhibited as self-hatred by POC who believe being White is superior and as a consequence, reject their community and identity as a POC [ 69 ] (Example: colorism ) • Anxiety arousal [ 41 ] • SAD [ 40 ] • Agoraphobia with and without PD, GAD, PD, SAD [ 22 ] Internalized racism (e.g., colorism) is from internalization of oppression that results in POC experiencing self-hatred and rejection of their community and identity. This internalization is documented to be associated with symptoms related to anxiety disorders Institutional racism* Inequality with regard to socioeconomic accessibility and opportunity due to racial identity [ 6 •] • OC symptoms [ 17 ] • Depression [ 59 ••] Institutional racism (e.g., racial profiling) targets POC and creates socioeconomic barriers which result in various disadvantages, including the detrimental impact on mental health (e.g., obsessive–compulsive and depressive symptoms) Micro-aggressions The use of negative, race-based statements or behaviors to convey insulting, aggressive, and derogatory language and foster hostile environments for POC [ 69 ] • Anxiety [ 42 , 67 ] • PTSD symptoms [ 61 ] • Traumatic stress [ 60 ] • Anxiety-related trauma symptoms [ 52 ] Microaggressions foster a hostile environment for POC which puts them in an uncomfortable and taxing situation, leading to low self-esteem and symptoms of anxiety, traumatization, and stress Structural racism* The systematic process whereby policies, practices, procedures, and laws are instituted to the social, political, educational, economic, and environmental detriment of POC in order to uplift, maintain, and allocate power to White people [ ...…”

“…Symptoms of PTSD have been found to be heritable through epigenetic mechanisms, which has particular implications for certain groups, such as Indigenous people in North America, who have been subject to historical genocide but may today be further traumatized by a continuation of this atrocity via forced and coerced sterilization in modern hospitals [e.g., 58 ]. Hankerson and colleagues [ 59 ••] developed a theoretical framework for understanding how intergenerational depression might be caused by fundamental factors such as institutional racism and accumulated trauma. They argued that understanding the risk of mental health problems, particularly its intergenerational reach, necessitates accounting for the traumatic ongoing institutional racism commonly endured by people of color.…”

The Restorative Integral Support (RIS) Model: Community-Based Integration of Trauma-Informed Approaches to Advance Equity and Resilience for Boys and Men of Color

“…As service providers begin to conceptualize the timeline of historical trauma for BMoC, they will understand how psychological and emotional consequences of mass traumatic experiences can be spread over time to ensuing generations through physiological, environmental, and social pathways [ 53 ]. Thus, changing these pathways has been connected to spirituality, hope, and the culture of the BMoC community throughout a history that has never been void of systemic oppression, racism, and trauma [ 54 ].…”