Are you in NYS? Schedule your FREE Consultation with a Black or Brown Male Therapist HERE
Anxiety in Black and Brown men is very common. It is one of a few very common issues that many come to therapy seeking treatment for. Other common issues include Anger Issues, Depression and Trauma. The social expectation that Black men are not entitled to have real feelings, much less express them, makes it much harder for Black and Brown men to get the help they need or understand what they are truly dealing with.
Anxiety stems from so many different issues. Here are some common ones:
- A change in residence (a move).
- Ending one period in life and starting another (go from student to staff member, from single to married, having a first child, moving to a new city).
- Hereditary (your mom or dad was anxious too)
- Trauma in your past (the symptoms of anxiety are sometimes actually part of PTSD).
What's more important than where it came from is how you will manage it.
Therapy is the best first step to figuring out what's going on deep inside of you and getting to the root cause of your anxious symptoms. If you are a NYS resident, you can schedule a free consultation with one of our therapists HERE
If therapy isn't an option for you right now, or if you just want to learn some things you can do, here goes!
When you're in the middle of strong anxious feelings, try the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique for Anxiety.
Watch a YouTube walkthrough of how to do this technique (we have no ties to the group that created or produced this video) https://youtu.be/pjRMg6KALiw
- Pay attention to your breathing, take longer deeper breaths. Once you are in a calmer breathing pattern then you can focus and pay attention. What are?
- 5: FIVE things you see around you.
- 4: FOUR things you can touch around you.
- 3: THREE things you hear around you.
- 2: TWO things you can smell around you.
- 1: ONE thing you can taste.