Letter to a Young Millennial: Young, Black, and Depressed

Dear Young Millennial,

I wanted to use the first letter in this series to discuss depression because I feel like it’s so prevalent especially among my young black friends, and we often feel very alone with dealing with it. Often times until we see a random Facebook or Twitter post we don’t even know someone else is dealing with some of the same things we are. Depression as a word has an umbrella of symptoms and can manifests in so many ways. I remember when I was in college my depression was often stress induced and I would sleep for days or eat lots of comfort food and isolate myself. Now as a young adult I’ve developed better coping skills, but that’s because I’ve addressed that depression exists and it can’t be prayed away. You have to do the work within yourself and it takes time.

I know there’s shame that comes with the word Depression. But if we’re being honest, while our 20’s are some of our best years, they’re also some of our hardest. You develop the most within that time and its emotional as hell. I struggled just trying to figure out how often I wanted to grocery shop, let alone full blown budgeting. Which is why seeking a therapist is so important. I know for black people the lack of black therapist can be a deterrent but I’ve found some black therapists and I’d be glad to get you connected. Coming to terms with who you are and finding yourself is hard, and can be quite depressing. I was recently discussing with my friend D about how I was reading that black people are pre-disposed to depression and he brought up that they’re also pre-disposed to PTSD. Considering our painful history it’s not a surprise to me. Even now we witness so much pain in our lives and aren’t given the right tools to deal with it. Our symptoms are often ignored by doctors who aren’t culturally competent and our parents just throw religion in our faces. Ultimately setting us up for failure.

Some of my tips to deal with depression are simple:

Address it head on

Figure out your triggers to make coping easier

Find a way to release what you’re feeling and thinking, either through journalism, Art, cooking, etc.

I also asked one of my friends who has depression to give a few tips on how he deals with his depression, “Positive affirmations, positive friends/energy, & doing something constructive. Creating something, putting those thoughts and feelings into something and letting it capture the essence of that moment. Like a photo..” – Manté Carlo

I hope this letter has been an eye opener and a stigma breaker.

With love,

The Law According To Amber