WHAT DOES RACIAL TRAUMA LOOK LIKE?

Racial based stress can impact both physical and mental health.Experiences of race-based discrimination can have detrimental psychological impacts on individuals and their wider communities. In some individuals, prolonged incidents of racism can lead to symptoms like those experienced with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This can look like depression, anger, recurring thoughts of the event, physical reactions (e.g. headaches, chest pains, insomnia), hypervigilance, low-self-esteem, and mentally distancing from the traumatic events. Some or all of these symptoms may be present in someone with racial trauma and symptoms can look different across different cultural groups. It is important to note that unlike Post traumatic stress (PTSD), race based stress is not considered a mental health disorder. Race based stress is a mental injury that can occur as the result of living within a racist system or experiencing events of racism.