…that it is protective and warranted at first. It is natural, normal and healthy to protect oneself. In the presence of a threat, we need it to survive. The challenge is that our minds and bodies are not designed to stay at that level of alertness for prolonged periods of time. It kills us, literally.
So yes, it is possible to be traumatized by racism. Like a person who was in a major car accident, had been assaulted or lived in a war zone, we need to consider our minds as both resilient and fragile. The accumulation of race-based stress and the acute effect of direct racial incidents wear on our psyche. If we don’t attend to this, we won’t need the police to end our lives. Our minds are doing it for us.
CHECK: Racism & Your Health
So, I encourage you to look out for how you are reacting and take care of yourself accordingly. I also encourage you to check out the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture’s #racialtraumaisreal discussion to learn more.
Shatina Williams, PhD is a licensed psychologist in Washington, DC and Maryland. She received her PhD in Counseling Psychology from Boston College and currently serves as a Staff Clinician at the American University Counseling Center and has an independent private practice, Aya Psychotherapy & Consulting, in Bethesda, MD. She has worked with children, adolescents, and adults in residential, community mental health, integrated health care, and university counseling settings. Her special interests include community and interpersonal trauma, effects of racism and sexism on identity and identity-related experiences, racial and gender identity, exercise and healthy eating, and experiences of students of Color and first-generation college students.