Skip to main content

Minority Mental Health Month A Need to Talk About Mental Illness in the African American Community

By: PRLog
Having a greater understanding of different ethnicities’ experience with schizophrenia is important for those in the mental health field because culture and race can impact treatment. Few memoirs on schizophrenia are written from an African-American perspective. Love’s All That Makes Sense opens up that conversation in the African American Community which has historically been silent about this topic, largely due to stigma or negative attitudes and beliefs about mental illness.
PRLog - Jul 09, 2013 - DUNDAS, Canada -- Mental illness has no boundaries; it crosses race, class, gender and age groups. The first person literature on schizophrenia, however, is not as broad in its scope. Few memoirs on schizophrenia are written from an African-American perspective.

Ebony Magazine, in an October, 2012 feature, wondered why , when it comes to mental illness, so many "Black Folks ....... Suffer in Silence?"

Sakeenah and Anika Francis (mother and daughter) in their book, Love's All That Makes Sense A Mother Daughter Memoir, do provide that rare memoir about mental illness in the Black Community and open up a conversation on the devastating  impact of schizophrenia in a young new mother embarking on a career and on her daughter.

As Sakeenah described it, her life was a Cinderella story in reverse. She grew up in a well-respected, middle-class African American family. She went to college, was homecoming queen, married, began a career and had children. Then, schizophrenia struck and she lost everything. She went from homecoming queen to being homeless and institutionalized. In the book,  Sakeenah Francis tells her daughter about her darkest moments of living with schizophrenia in a series of letters that chronicle the first time she heard voices in her head, her hospitalizations, her struggle to parent, and her arduous path to long-term recovery.

Both shaken and moved by her mother’s revealing letters, Anika faces the haunting effects her mother’s mental illness had on her. After years of keeping the secret about her mother’s illness, Anika breaks her silence voicing what it was like to grow up with a mother with a severe mental illness.She describes the emotional roller coaster created by her mother’s bouts of recovery and how this impacted her well into adulthood.

Though Sakeenah lost many bouts in her early struggles with schizophrenia, she kept striving. Through it all, there was love which at times was the only thing that made sense to Sakeenah and Anika. Love gave them the strength and resilience to heal and piece together that which schizophrenia had torn apart in their lives. This sobering story carries a message of hope that will be inspiring to people affected by a severe mental illness and the web of people connected to them.

Dr Sarah Y Vinson of Atlanta and the founder of the website, Black Mental Health commented that "This book will provide validation and inspiration for families who face similar struggles, as well as provide mental health care providers with perspectives that can inform care."

Sandra Shwayder Sanchez of Bookpleasures.com said "Her excellent use of analogies make this story about a woman with schizophrenia and her roller coaster relationship with her extremely gifted daughter a work that will enlighten and enrich anyone whether they suffer from a diagnosed mental illness or the difficult vicissitudes of life in hard times, or just the ups and downs of life at any time."

Thus far, the book has received 5 stars out of 5 on Amazon.

One review stated that "This book is a beautiful story of love between a mother and daughter."

Another review said that "This book shows that throughout the ups and downs of mental illness, families can stick together. It is hard at times, and there are setbacks, but love can triumph."

And a third review said "This an amazingly riveting book and a must read on so many different levels."

Sakeenah Francis is passionate about raising awareness about mental illness. She is a mental health advocate and speaker who has given over fifty speeches about her experiences living with schizophrenia for over thirty years and being in long-term recovery for the past fifteen years. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio

Anika Francis was exposed early on to schizophrenia’s ravaging effects as she tried to cope and support her mother thus she understands the issues facing children of mentally ill parents. Yoga played such an important role in her healing that she became a yoga therapist and now teaches people how to use yoga for mental wellness and healing. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Love's All That Makes Sense A Mother Daughter Memoir  ISBN 978-1927637005, 260 pages, 19.95 Distributed by Ingram and available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble , Kindle, Kobo Google Play and at other retailers.

Mother and daughter can be seen talking about their lives in this video

Read Full Story - Minority Mental Health Month A Need to Talk About Mental Illness in the African American Community | More news from this source

Press release distribution by PRLog

Data & News supplied by www.cloudquote.io
Stock quotes supplied by Barchart
Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes.
By accessing this page, you agree to the following
Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.