An initial exploration of what ‘mental health’ means to young black men

BackgroundA limited number of studies have examined the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of young Black men, particularly with regard to their mental health. This study used focus groups to explore the complexities of the Black male experience and capture young Black men's understanding of and comfort with discussing their mental health.MethodsForty-six Black male college students in a southern US state were recruited for this study. Participants were asked a series of mental health-related questions to determine their understanding of and comfort with discussing their mental health. Questions included: (1) What is mental health? and (2) How comfortable do you feel talking about your mental health? A taxonomy was created to organize results based on participant responses.ResultsEmerging themes included stigma in the Black community, the origin of stoic behaviors, and cultural stereotypes of Black Americans and mental health. During the discussions, participants articulated mental health in a way that they believed was suitable for the ‘formal’ focus group setting – that is, using mental health terminology familiar to that of health professionals. The men agreed that while they used ‘formal’ mental health terminology in the focus group setting, they were accustomed to using culturally-rich jargon, or slang to discuss their mental health in more informal settings. Participants also stated that they were comfortable discussing their mental health, however, their frequent use of slang may be undetectable and perhaps uncomfortable for health professionals.ConclusionsIncreasing our knowledge about the mental health of young Black men will help develop effective programs aimed at improving their health and overall quality of life. Findings from this study should be considered by health professionals during (1) the dialogue about culturally-appropriate, gender-specific health promotion programs tailored to Black men and (2) the design, implementation, and evaluation of these programs.