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Saving Our Last Nerve The Black Woman's Path To Mental Health By Marilyn Martin, M.D., M.P.H.
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The Book
To Purchase Online |
You are getting on MY LAST NERVE! If you haven’t said it, many of us have heard this saying or thought of shouting it. The multitude of stressors we encounter can lead us to the breaking point. Our Last Nerve is our coping ability, what we use to make it along life’s journey. As a public health physician, I wrote this book to make sure that Black women have up to date information about their mental health. Yes, BLACK PEOPLE ARE NOT IMMUNE TO MENTAL ILLNESS. Right now, we are having a rough time caring for our mental health. Across the world depression is the number one reason why people don’t go to work and in this country the number one reason why people apply for disability. It is a devastating illness when left untreated. Stress and depression also take their toll on physical health. They can lead people to die sooner from heart attacks and strokes, and contribute significantly to the substance abuse and alcoholism in our community. In the Black community, mental illness remains a topic that we have limited correct information about. It remains an area that is enshrouded in mystery and mis-education. We know our friends, families and neighbors have “issues”, but that’s about where we are willing to go on mental illness. We say that therapy is for “White people”. This leads us to try and bear up, until the point of explosion. Then there is all sorts of “trauma and drama.” In fact, we are the group who uses emergency rooms the most for mental health treatment. Saving Our Last Nerve offers a different perspective. It is a protest against the silence, denial and despair in our community. It suggests that the health of our community is at serious risk unless we take action. The first part of that action has to do with becoming informed about our mental functioning. The book defines mental health as well as the major mental disorders. It talks about stress and how living without a plan of how we are going to manage it is a breakdown waiting to happen. The next step involves getting screened for anxiety or depression. If you are positive, it lets you know how to go about getting help for yourself or someone else you care for. As a physician who practices psychiatry and psychoanalysis, the message I want to get across is that good mental health is not something that just happens to you, it is a journey that must be undertaken. It does not have to be done alone. Take the book and its teachings along with you. Many in our community have bought into the idea that we must be independent and superhuman. This is against our cultural roots. When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion, goes an African proverb. People who have social support (connection with others and organizations, including faith institutions) have been shown to be healthier and to live longer lives. Saving Our Last Nerve offers information that can help you become informed and empowered to take care of this essential aspect of your functioning. Enjoy, and Cherish the Journey. |
 Marilyn Martin, M.D., MPH "Self-pity can stand in the way of “successful grieving,” and we need to look at its sources. We get caught in self-pity because we walk around with daydreams of how things should be." |
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