A critical approach to stress-related disorders in African Americans
Mattis, J.S.; Bell, C.C.; Jagers, R.J.; Jenkins, E.
Journal of the National Medical Association 91(2): 80-85
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0027-9684 PMID: 10083776 Document Number: 506286
This article outlines an integrative, dynamic approach to stress and is, in part, a response to emergent debates within social science research and practice that suggest that African Americans are currently experiencing the reverberating psychological effects of slavery and oppression. It is the product of the work of an African-American mental health think tank situated at the Community Mental Health Council, Chicago, Illinois. We suggest the need to attend to biopsychosocial, environmental, and cultural factors that inform both exposure and responses to stress. Finally, consideration is given to matters of resiliency.