Pacific News Service > News > The 'New Orleans Stare' -- Mental Health Needs of Blacks Acute After Katrina
Pacific News Service > News > The 'New Orleans Stare' -- Mental Health Needs of Blacks Acute After Katrina: "Dr. Rasheda Perine, 32, a New Orleans native, is an assistant professor of psychology at Southern University in Baton Rouge and a practicing clinical psychologist. Her immediate family and a family friend are staying with her, all evacuees from New Orleans. The East New Orleans neighborhood where she grew up has been completely destroyed.
Baton Rouge has added 260,000 new residents in the last 14 days, making it the fastest-growing city in America. Most of the newcomers are from New Orleans.
Dr. Perine knows that seeking help through therapy is an issue for black people.
'There is a lot of stigma in the black community about therapy,' Perine says. 'You are supposed to deal with your own problems. We are like super-people -- we're not supposed to cry.'
She says African Americans suffer 'a lot of self-hatred because we won't express ourselves,' and thinks that most Katrina victims will face Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
'When you go through something very traumatic, you re-live it over and over again,' Perine says. 'You have nightmares, a lot of anxiety. You can't function as you normally would for months and sometimes years.'
Dr. Perine herself has the look. As she talks, the tears are just beneath the surface of her face, like river water behind a levee about to burst.
'I don't think I have actually cried about it yet,' she says, 'I think it is going to happen soon but I have to be strong for my family.'
She has, however, taken the time to process what the destruction of New Orleans means for American society, especially black people.
'I think racism is so much a part of our culture that it is covert. I don't think that President Bush outright dislikes black people, but it is so much a part of our culture that when you see a black face you don't feel as much sympathy or empathy as you do a white face. If there were cameras showing the white faces, the evacuation would have been quicker.""
Baton Rouge has added 260,000 new residents in the last 14 days, making it the fastest-growing city in America. Most of the newcomers are from New Orleans.
Dr. Perine knows that seeking help through therapy is an issue for black people.
'There is a lot of stigma in the black community about therapy,' Perine says. 'You are supposed to deal with your own problems. We are like super-people -- we're not supposed to cry.'
She says African Americans suffer 'a lot of self-hatred because we won't express ourselves,' and thinks that most Katrina victims will face Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
'When you go through something very traumatic, you re-live it over and over again,' Perine says. 'You have nightmares, a lot of anxiety. You can't function as you normally would for months and sometimes years.'
Dr. Perine herself has the look. As she talks, the tears are just beneath the surface of her face, like river water behind a levee about to burst.
'I don't think I have actually cried about it yet,' she says, 'I think it is going to happen soon but I have to be strong for my family.'
She has, however, taken the time to process what the destruction of New Orleans means for American society, especially black people.
'I think racism is so much a part of our culture that it is covert. I don't think that President Bush outright dislikes black people, but it is so much a part of our culture that when you see a black face you don't feel as much sympathy or empathy as you do a white face. If there were cameras showing the white faces, the evacuation would have been quicker.""
posted by Blackgold at 8:24 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home