The City of Toronto has launched a campaign focused on the impact of anti-Black racism on mental health. The campaign will culminate in a Black Mental Health Day on March 2 and annually in March thereafter. On that day institutions will be asked to take action focused on protecting and promoting mental health and wellness of Black Torontonians.

The city is taking leadership for an issue that is vital for its population. There are at least four reasons why it is the right thing to do.

First, mental health is important.

Second, mental health problems are the most common reasons for people missing work. Mental illness costs $13 billion a year to our local economy and people with mental health problems are more likely to live in poverty than others.

Third, despite the resilience of Black Torontonians, there have been increasing suggestions that anti-Black racism is taking its toll on population mental health.

Lastly, the situation does not seem to be improving. The actions of business and services seem not to have been effective in improving the lives of Black Torontonians.

The Black experience project showed that the Black population is one of the most stressed in the GTA. In addition, parts of the black community have a 60 per cent increase in serious mental health problems such as psychosis.

The reasons for the increased risk of mental and physical problems lie in the social determinants of health. The Mental Health Commission of Canada reported that African and Caribbean Canadians were more exposed to factors that are linked to poorer mental health for everyone such as poorer education and housing, unemployment, poverty and criminalization.

In addition to the social determinants recognized as causing issues for everyone, specific challenges, such as problems linked to immigration, language and racism have particular impacts on the Black mental health. Racism makes the lives of the Black population worse than others and increases the rates of psychosis and depression by 200 to 300 per cent

Stress has been identified as one cause. And racism-related stress is more impactful than other forms. Anyone who does not get a promotion will feel stressed. But the stress is greater if you think it is because of discrimination and is increased further if you believe there is nothing you can do about it.

In addition to the direct impact of stress, some of the things people do to decrease stress have a health impact. Smoking, comfort eating, and overworking all damage your mental health.

Yet another cause is social inequalities. Prof. David Hulchanski at the University of Toronto has shown that Toronto is three cities that have different trajectories. City 1 is downtown and is getting richer compared to the rest of Toronto. City 2 surrounds it and has not seen a significant change in earnings, while City 3, the inner suburbs, has seen a 50 to 100 per cent decrease in average earnings compared to City 1 over the last 35 years. City 1 is 84 per cent white. City 3 is 28 per cent white.

Some in Toronto argue that Hulchanski’s work shows that poverty is colour coded. The United Way has reported that over the last 35 years workers in Toronto have been getting richer, but racialized workers have had no increase in real wages.

The Black population is under considerable stress, but they are not getting relief. There are primary care providers, such as Women’s Health in Women’s Hand and TAIBU, who have been focusing on Black mental health. There are also specialist mental health providers, such as Across Boundaries and CAMH’s Substance Abuse Program for African and Caribbean Youth.

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But the truth is that mainstream services often do not meet the mental health needs of the Black population. We live in a city that says diversity is its strength but we offer little access to needed culturally responsive supports and services.

Highlighting the issues, pointing to things people can do for themselves, ways that services can improve and the need for systems to evolve to meet the needs of the Black population is something that a responsible city should do. If we want to meet the challenges of the next decade, we need all hands on deck and no-one should be left behind. Black minds are a terrible thing to waste.