Mental Health Matters #13: Race, Faith and Stigma (and a Smattering of Sports)

 

Guest:  Travis Terrell, Cohost, We Are Live Radio

 

For the past three and a half years, Travis Terrell’s voice has been hitting the airwaves as cohost of We Are Live Radio (WAL). Now live streamed, the new WAL format provides a perfect venue for Travis and his “sidekick,” Chris Denman, to engage their guests, many on the national comedy and entertainment circuits, with conversations that are as awakening and fresh as a comfortable cup of morning brew.

 

Travis takes to the microphone with that same ease in this week’s Mental Health Matters, as he discusses with Executive Director Tom Duff, MSW, LCSW what it was like to grow up the son of a preacher. He also candidly shares, as a black male, how he often felt the self-imposed pressure of believing that he had to represent all African-Americans by striving to be exceptional in white people’s eyes, so as not to fall into stereotypes. As a young man, it was a heavy charge he cast upon himself, and sometimes, the weight of that responsibility was too much to carry. Travis sensed that talking about it with a therapist would help. But that wasn’t necessarily easy to do. The stigma associated with mental health has been especially strong among African-Americans for generations, and for many reasons. By weaving his faith experiences and a growing acceptance of “asking for help,” Travis explains what works for him today, what mental health means for younger generations who are no longer held back from talking about it, and why having conversations is so important.

 

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