Sommer Knight

Many Black people report feeling mentally drained from experiencing anti-Black racism across all life domains. This emotional burden has recently been referred to as “Black fatigue.” The aim of this qualitative study is to describe the phenomenon of Black fatigue and the experiences underlying the construct among Black people in Ontario, Canada, aged 16 and older. Semi-structured qualitative interviews ( N = 22) were conducted and analyzed using thematic analysis. Four major themes were identified from the findings: (1) recurring experiences with anti-Black racism, (2) the fatigue of individual coping, (3) more intersectional oppression, more fatigue, and (4) the mental and emotional impact of Black fatigue. Individual forms of coping in response to racism also contributed to experiences of Black fatigue such as outer-directed active coping strategies (e.g., proving self to others, working harder) and inner-directed passive coping strategies (e.g., ruminating, tolerating). Future research is needed to explore the pervasiveness of Black fatigue in the lives of Black people to inform future preventative interventions.

Black resilience has been long documented in Black history; yet too few studies discuss the positive narratives of Black experiences. There is too little discussion of positive and protective factors that are present in the Black community to cope with anti-Black racism. In this qualitative research, we aimed to explore and describe effective coping strategies used in response to anti-Black racism to promote both individual and collective well-being in the Black community. Using a strengths-based approach, the objectives of the study were to 1) explore helpful coping strategies used by Black Canadians ( N = 22) in response to anti-Black racism; and 2) describe their impact on personal and collective well-being through interviews. Results illustrated that emotional collective coping , active individual coping and africultural coping were helpful for participants in dealing with anti-Black racism. These coping strategies had positive impacts on participants’ personal well-being (e.g., self-efficacy) and collective well-being (e.g., social connection). This research describes the internal strength and collective power that exists in the Black community, especially in the Canadian context. Information from this study reaffirms the presence of Black resilience amidst the face of race-based stressors and orients both practitioners and researchers to understand the protective factors that enhance the lives of Black people.

Studies from the United States and United Kingdom have shown that Black patients are disproportionately diagnosed with psychosis and have received excess coercive medical intervention. There has been little discussion of this topic in Canada, and of how coercive interventions may have influenced Black patient attitudes towards mental health services. To address these issues, semi-structured interviews were administered to five Black men with first-episode psychosis (FEP) to (a) explore their experiences with coercive interventions and (b) describe how these experiences may have influenced help-seeking behaviours. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyze the data. Four core themes and four additional themes emerged from the interviews. Patients described loneliness, not being heard, police contact and forced medication as influencing their attitudes towards mental health care. Further research is needed to develop reparative strategies to encourage reflection about and awareness of coercive intervention among Black FEP patients.

Objective: Using a retrospective sample, the authors sought to determine whether Black patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) in Canada were at a higher risk for coercive referral and coercive...