YOUNGSTOWN — Black people suffer disproportionately from trauma, mental illness and depression, so any attempt to help them navigate through their difficulties must seek to rise above stigmas and built-in biases while taking heavily into account what many of their ancestors have endured, a social worker and social-justice expert contends.

Also, any treatment efforts must be sensitive to their culture and traditions and see them holistically without allowing biases to interfere, LaToya Logan, a Cleveland-based clinical social worker, explained.

“How can you treat a person if you know nothing about them? How we see a person determines how we help them,” said Logan, who works with black males 14 and older who have experienced or been exposed to trauma.

Logan discussed these and other related topics in her 90-minute presentation, “Mental Health, Stigma and Culture,” that she gave last week at St. John Episcopal Church on Wick Avenue. Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past hosted her visit to the Mahoning Valley as part of the annual Non-violence Week, which began with a parade on Sunday in downtown Youngstown. Before her talk, she spoke to guidance counselors, principals and social workers in the Youngstown City Schools.

Logan founded and runs Project LIFT, a prevention and social-justice agency that offers behavioral health services to black teens and fathers at risk for homelessness, economic instability and incarceration. The agency also gives them opportunities to share vulnerable aspects of their lives.

Logan, who also penned a book titled “The Case of the Brownie: Examining Aggression, Trauma and Apathy in Black Males,” said it’s imperative that any treatment model for blacks dealing with trauma, anxiety, mental illness, depression and other ailments must also take into account experiences unique to them, such as slavery and long-term oppression — two likely root causes of generational trauma.

Another challenge is disparities between the black population and those in the mental health field. Blacks comprise about 13.4% of the U.S. population, yet only 2% of psychologists and psychiatrists are black; the figure is 4% for social workers, Logan pointed out.

On the other hand, an estimated 40% of homeless people, 50% of the prison population and 45% of children in the foster care system are black, she noted.

Other causes of such afflictions that disproportionately affect them include poverty and racism, both of which often lead to feelings of worthlessness, sadness and hopelessness while nurturing a culture of silence, Logan said. She added that largely as a result, religious faith is “a core of wellness” in the black community.

The key factors of individual and collective trauma include impoverished and disassembled communities, racism, discrimination, an undeveloped sense of identity, unrealistic expectations, police brutality and over-incarceration, she continued.

In certain ways, the mental health field also has fed the problem. During her talk, Logan cited a statement the American Psychological Association issued in October 2021 that states in part the APA “was complicit in contributing to systemic inequities, and hurt many through racism, racial discrimination and denigration of people of color, thereby falling short on its mission to benefit society and improve lives.”

Logan explained that the psychology field also has historically failed to support research on communities of color via inadequately reporting and including them in certain types of data, “thereby perpetuating invisibility and resulting in a lack of quality research …”

Another challenge is that many black people have been conditioned to overvalue problem solving, being steadfast in finding answers and being resilient — all of which can cultivate a culture of unhealthy silence, she explained.

“We are not meant to exist in isolation, but to be part of a community,” Logan said.

She also outlined the racial socialization and community care treatment models. Community care entails recognizing the important role family, faith and the community have on wellness outcomes. The other one includes supportive guidance and messaging related to attitudes and values, and how those connect to one’s heritage and interactions with the larger society, as well as the effects of discrimination.

Other key points treatment models should incorporate include validating and giving voice to the legacy of harm done to many black communities; affirming and acknowledging historic and present-day resilience, defiance, strategies and coping skills in those communities; advocating and organizing for more accessible and innovative types of mental health care; equipping communities with knowledge and tools that support healthful coping skills and healing; and coaching community members regarding ways to offer support to those with mental health difficulties, Logan explained.

“We have to get used to connecting emotionally,” she said. “The outer appearance is not a reflection of the inner.”