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May 2024
Volume 10 | Issue No. 84
Cheslie Kryst, winner of the 2019 Miss USA
Pageant, died by suicide earlier this year
in a tragic event that broke hearts and
headlines across the country. Her sudden
death sparked nationwide conversations
about mental health, especially after her
mother April Simpkins revealed Kryst had
been battling depression. Even as her
daughter's closest confidant, Simpkins was
not aware of how much depression was
affecting her until shortly before her death.
The loss of the beautiful, charismatic
pageant queen to such a gruesome
death led many to question just how
this happens. According to the National
Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Black
adults in the U.S. are more likely than
other races to report feelings of sadness,
hopelessness, and other symptoms of
emotional distress. However, only one
in three Black adults who need mental
health care actually receive it due to
a variety of factors including access to
quality care and stigma.
Kryst's suicide highlights an unfortunately
common concern among Black individuals
and families: the belief that mental illness is
a taboo or shameful subject, which often
prevents people from seeking support
and treatment. A study examining Black
Americans' beliefs about mental illness
found that 63% of Black individuals believe
a mental health condition is a sign of
personal weakness.
For two Black women living in Missouri, this
hush-hush mentality within the family kept
them struggling silently until adulthood,
forcing them to forge their own path to
healing. Kyra Jackson, a mother and
grandmother living in Missouri, didn't see
mental health normalized until beginning
her career in health care and looking
after her own children. Bailey Coleman, a
former track athlete and coach living in
the Kansas City metro, was unaware of her
struggles until college and is still seeking
support to this day.
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Black families and individuals can begin breaking generational
patterns by shedding themselves of the shame they were taught to
carry, and finding strength in vulnerability.
