Living with 2020 Vision

The Mental Health Awakening in the Black Community

Tiara Johnson

• Publisher: New Degree Press
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781637305584
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Self Improvement

"Too much. Too fast. Too soon."

Many Black Americans related to this sentiment in 2020. Unprecedented challenges fell upon the world but impacted the Black community in in a way that was, for many, left unresolved. Tiara Johnson's Living with 2020 Vision: The Mental Health Awakening in the Black Community examines the compounding and traumatic events of 2020 and how they had a greater impact than initially believed.

Johnson interviews experts and includes research to:

• Understand the "triple pandemic"
• Shed light on the challenges of schooling in isolation, particularly in low-income households
• Highlight collective trauma and PTSD
• Share organizations, resources, and techniques for advocacy and assistance

Living with 2020 Vision aims to shed light on the importance of recognizing and responding to the need for mental health services for the Black community. Wholeness can only occur when the whole body is healthy. Anyone who experienced or understood 2020's challenges and would like to learn more about its impact or be an advocate would benefit from reading.

Chapter 1

Science Behind Empathy and Comfort

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

—Maya Angelou

When I looked up the definition of the word “empathy” online, Merriam-Webster Dictionary defined it as the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present.

Long before I had ever heard or learned of the idea of empathy, it was evident to me that I rarely struggled with showing empathy or being able to “put myself in someone else’s shoes,” as my mom would call it. Luckily, empathy seemed to be one trait that came naturally to me.

As a child growing up, I knew how it felt when it seemed like my opinions were being disregarded, not acknowledged or fully understood. I remember the feeling of complete discouragement. I remember being frustrated when I would attempt to explain my views on everyday topics like favorite songs or favorite subjects in school. In those moments, instead of responding as though my standpoints were heard, they were never acknowledged and were oftentimes ignored. For a while, I considered there was something wrong with my answers or ideas.

So, I tried a different route. Instead of solely giving out my opinions, I began to ask others first, to see if I could find similarities. I quickly learned that when I began responses with similarities from others, my opinions that followed were better received. I told myself, in order to stop the feelings of discouragement and hurt, maybe it would be best for me to begin to learn about others, namely their experiences and thought process. The way I looked at it, if I could understand their experiences, then I could better understand how they communicate, and ultimately, I could communicate more effectively with others. In return, I hoped that they would become more receptive to my feelings, fostering a better understanding and potential relationship.

Since then, I have continued to intentionally practice empathy with others because I see how rewarding it can be. To feel heard by someone is priceless. Over the years, I realized the connection between communication and empathy. If you know how to effectively talk to others, you can better empathize and comfort them as well.

In high school, I found a love and talent for writing. What started as an initial interest in writing quickly blossomed to a passion for storytelling, and I went on to graduate with a BA in Journalism. But I wanted to learn more. I decided it would be best to spend the next few years gaining more understanding and education in the power of communications, and more specifically, strategic communications. While earning my Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in Public Relations and Corporate Communications from Georgetown University, I learned that the true power of strategic communications is the ability to use intentional or tactical wording to satisfy the goals of the client.

I have spent my last few educational years experimenting with my personal blend of communications and empathy and how it can best serve others. Ultimately, I have found that communication and empathy can be used to provide comfort to others. I found that when you have empathy toward someone’s experiences, there is a better long-term chance for creating more meaningful conversations and relationships.

It is paramount for readers to understand the importance of empathy, so that they can create more impactful and comforting conversations about mental health and its relationship, particularly in the Black community. Now, that being said, if I am expecting you guys to walk away viewing the Black experience through a more empathetic lens, I figured it would be beneficial to address the science behind empathy. So, I went on a search to learn more about the science behind empathy and was pleased to know that I was on the right track when it comes to looking at empathy as a solution to providing comfort to others in their time of need.

According to a 2020 Psychology Today online article, empathy is a one-on-one connection because of a deep understanding that comes from sharing an emotional experience. Sympathy is a feeling of sadness or pity felt for another person (Davis, 2020). The main difference between the two terms is how they can make the one who suffers feel. The Black community has never asked for or wanted sympathy or pity from others. We only want empathy and understanding from others.

Sympathy doesn’t require much self-reflection and can sound like “I’m so sorry to hear that,” or “I feel bad for you.” Whereas empathy requires you to actively listen and then reflect internally before responding with follow up questions. Oftentimes empathy is less verbal, more present and can sound like “I can only imagine how you felt in that moment,” or “How are you handling it today?” When you intentionally show empathy, you find yourself asking more questions to learn more about the feelings of that person, rather than solely responding with additional statements.

Science Behind Empathy and Comfort

When I began my initial search for the science behind empathy, I ran across a 2017 NIH (National Institute of Health) online published journal titled, “The Science of Empathy.” It looked at therapists, counselors, and psychologists as health care workers. The publication discussed the importance of having empathy as a personal trait and proved with its presented research that using empathy among health care providers had a direct correlation to patient satisfaction and trust.

Empathy also requires cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and moral capacities to understand and respond to the suffering of others (Riess. 2017). Looking further into this 2017 journal, empathy plays a critical interpersonal and societal role, enabling sharing of experiences, needs, and desires between individuals and providing an emotional bridge that promotes prosocial behavior (Riess 2017). Having and effectively using empathy can help build an emotional connection that can promote social behaviors like helping and sharing, which can benefit other people or society as a whole.

In addition to those prosocial behaviors, I firmly believe that empathy promotes basic humanity and decency among others. This means that as decent human beings on Earth, we never want to feel judged. Ideally, we as humans just want to be treated fair and equally. Oftentimes, in order to feel equal, there needs to be empathy present to show the similarities. The publication mentioned the science, this capacity of empathy requires an exquisite interplay of neural networks and enables us to perceive the emotions of others, resonate with them emotionally and cognitively, to take in the perspective of others, and to distinguish between our own and others’ emotions (Riess, 2017).

As I continued to read more details about the neuroscience behind empathy, I began to get discouraged because it initially seemed that there was a chance that empathy could not be taught. I mean, whether a person can be taught virtue is a valid debate. But then, the same 2017 NIH publication mentioned that in the past, empathy was considered an inborn trait which could not be taught, but research has shown that this vital human competency is mutable and can be taught to health-care providers (Riess, 2017). Now, if it could be taught to health care providers, then what was stopping others in the world from learning about the benefits of empathy?

What is the difference between empathetic health care providers and empathetic American citizens? Both groups have the potential of daily interaction with others from different cultures and backgrounds, right? However, I feel there is a difference. Compared to the average health care providers, the average citizen is not professionally encouraged to be empathetic. But the average American can, or should be motivated to be empathetic. This is why empathy can be one of the many plausible solutions to help bridge the gaps between the Black community and the mental health industry.

But how does one actively begin to practice empathy? Well, according to the NIH publication, it starts with self-empathy. Self-empathy is as straightforward as it sounds. It means to show or have empathy with oneself. According to the NIH publication, human beings have intricate, shared neural circuits in motor, sensory, and emotional (limbic) areas of the brain to help them understand the experience of others, leading to helping behaviors (Riess. 2017). However, when emotionally overloaded, overwhelmed, exploited, or burned out, the capacity for empathy declines as a result of the degree of emotional labor expended (Riess. 2017). So, in order to maintain healthy levels of empathy, one must regularly exercise self-care and empathy first.

The publication concluded its findings and mentioned that self-empathy and other empathy lead to replenishment and renewal of a vital human capacity, and that the cardinal feature of empathy is that it usually helps connect people to others (Riess. 2017). Even though ideally, it seems easier to connect with people with whom you share similarities, there are benefits to intentionally showing empathy to individuals with different backgrounds. The NIH publication stated, cognitive empathy must play a role when a lack of emotional empathy exists because of racial, ethnic, religious, or physical differences (Riess. 2017).

Realistically, I think one of the many solutions lies at the intersection of empathy and comfort. The term “comfort” is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as the easing or alleviation of a person’s feelings of grief or distress. But when you think about it, how do you provide others with comfort? Do you know what to say to others when you see them upset?

Jen Marr, author and Founder and CEO of Inspiring Comfort, a company dedicated to teaching comfort as a skill, explains that 75 percent of people feel that they can recognize someone who is struggling but only 15 percent of people feel equipped to know what to say or do to support them (Inspiring Comfort, n.d). This is what is known as the “empathy-action gap.” Jen Marr and her organization have been working as pioneers in establishing comfort as a teachable skill.

Marr discussed her research on the PAUSE method and its benefits to helping lessen the empathy-action gap with me. According to Jen, the PAUSE technique or filter can be used when you are attempting to figure out how to best comfort someone. Before you open your mouth to respond and help someone, ask yourself am I “present” with the person? Am I exhaling and being there in the moment for that person? Next, “advice.” We tend to want to offer advice first, but that often isn’t comforting because nobody deals with issues in the same way. So “A” actually stands for not giving advice unless specifically asked. Then we have “unloading.” Before responding or unloading your own thoughts on how you would handle the given situation, ask yourself, “does misery really love company?” You ma...

Table of contents

• FRONTMATTER
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Science Behind Empathy and Comfort
• Chapter 2. 2020 Triple Pandemic
• Chapter 3. My Introduction to Mental Health
• Chapter 4. Isolation and Education
• Chapter 5. Racism and Discrimination
• Chapter 6. Black Male Trauma is Real
• Chapter 7. Coping
• Chapter 8. Election Anxiety
• Chapter 9. Mental Health Advocates
• Chapter 10. Mental Health Professionals
• Chapter 11. Mental Health Organizations
• Chapter 12. Conclusion
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix