Update 2 – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (“Hood Disease”) in Minority Children

Trauma exposure is high in African Americans who live in stressful urban environments. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression are common outcomes of trauma exposure and are understudied in African Americans. African Americans are more likely to seek treatment for psychiatric disorders in a primary care setting.

A 2001 study showed that after the September 11 attacks, higher levels of acute stress disorder (ASD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), ASD symptoms and PTSD symptoms were present in undergraduate students. Researcher Edward Blanchard of the University of Albany, State University of New York, studied three geographic different populations. One was in Albany, New York; the second in Augusta, Georgia; the third in Fargo, North Dakota.

One predictor for PTSD and ASD in this study was “connectedness” to the victims in the World Trade Center, meaning having a friend or knowing someone directly involved in the event. ASD in the three populations was almost 10 percent in the undergraduates from Fargo, nearly 20 percent in those from Augusta and approached 30 percent in the Albany group. Children in this study had more psychological symptoms closer to the event, but even children 1,000 miles away from the World Trade Center were still impacted.

One local expert says national data suggests one in three urban youth have mild to severe PTSD. “You could take anyone who is experiencing the symptoms of PTSD, and the things we are currently emphasizing in school will fall off their radar. Because frankly it does not matter in our biology if we don’t survive the walk home,” said Jeff Duncan-Andrade, Ph.D. of San Francisco State University.

Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome in urban areas is not exactly breaking news to anyone with a television, a conscience, or eyes and ears. Children in marginalized communities regardless of race, color, creed, or otherwise have been unfairly subjected to oppressive laws, policies, and substandard educational opportunities and mental health care. We have children that live in our communities that experience trauma on a daily basis on par with soldiers that served their country proudly during tours abroad. The biggest difference is soldiers sign up to serve their country, get trained to use weapons, understand that they will encounter gun violence during their enlistment periods. How does a kindergartner listen to gunfire all night, walk through a gauntlet of drugs and poverty to get to school and expect to learn on the same rate as a child that does not have those “distractions”. The current climate in our country that is exacerbated by our “leadership” lends itself to ultra-stressors for our children of color.

http://blackyouthproject.com/ptsd-is-more-common-than-you-think/

https://blackyouthproject.com/black-mental-health-care-needs-to-involve-more-than-therapy/

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https://www.propublica.org/article/the-best-reporting-on-children-with-post-traumatic-stress

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/05/16/hood-disease-inner-city-oakland-youth-suffering-from-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd-crime-violence-shooting-homicide-murder/