PITTSBURGH — Videos of deadly shootings from around the country have been front and center recently, and seeing those images can take a toll on a person’s mental health.
“When you see these images and these videos over and over and over again, it can be numbing. It can cause desensitization, just seeing things like this and make us start to believe they are normal,” said Julius Boatwright with Steel Smiling Mental Health.
A recent study analyzed incidents of Black people killed by police officers, finding that Black Americans reported an increase in poor mental health days after these incidents.
“Over the past 10 months, we have seen about 200-plus people reach out to us to be connected with a therapist,” Boatwright said. “Everyone is struggling with something. And the sooner that we are open to getting help, the sooner that we can heal. It’s a difficult path to take, but we deserve it. Everyone deserves that healing, particularly African American folks.”
He said you can start helping your mental health by stepping away from social media and unfollowing pages that post violent videos or images.
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