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The Rotunda
Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Mental health of children of color should be taken more seriously

Opinions: Seven Bridges' parents mourn his loss

Parents, Tami Charles and Donnie Bridges, mourn the loss of their ten-year-old son, Seven Bridges, who took his own life in January 2019. 

In recent years, depression in teenagers has been on the rise, and accompanying the mental illness has been an unfortunate increase in teenage suicides.

However, what most people regret to acknowledge is the harsh reality that depression isn’t just present in teenagers. It’s starting to make more of an appearance in children as young as five years old and that needs to be talked about more.

While it is extremely important to note that depression and suicidal thoughts can affect anyone of any gender, age or race, children of color are starting to experience depression and other life-threatening mental illnesses at a higher rate.

According to a 2018 article published by Science News, the suicide rates in black children from ages 5 to 12 are almost twice as high compared to the suicide rates of white children in the same age group.

Testimonials taken from HerCampus, Elite Daily and Blavity, written by black children who suffered through their mental illnesses in silence and made it to adulthood, show that in most minority communities, children of color are often dismissed and ostracized for expressing suicidal or mentally-ill thoughts. Even worse, this dismissal usually comes from the parents of these children, who believe mental illness does not and cannot reside within the mind of their child.

Specifically, these testimonies detail that children of color can experience this dismissal because their parents write off their feelings as “attitudes” or “sensitivity.” This sentiment has the power to diminish the child’s feelings, which then causes them to be withdrawn and show a lack of emotion in the future for fear of being belittled.

Non-white parents also tend to have the belief that mental illnesses are exclusive to white people, according to Mental Health America. To combat this stigma, movements like the “People of Color & Mental Illness” photo project have been created, showcasing that the mental health of people of color should be taken just as seriously as it is when being experienced by their white counterparts.

In the long run, projects like this one can help those suffering in silence to recognize that their illness and their feelings are valid.

Recognizing one’s own mental illness doesn’t and shouldn’t stop there - it’s seeking help for these illnesses and/or feelings that lead many to a dead end.

Dr. Michael A. Lindsey, a professor who specializes in poverty and mental health at New York University, makes a point by saying of those who are struggling in minority communities--especially black communities--“it's not that we don't seek help for our (mental health) issues; we don't seek professional help,” in a report to U.S. News.

“If you go to a professional to seek help, you're defined as being 'crazy,'” said Lindsey.

He goes on to say that one can be viewed as “weak” for attempting to get the help they need and says the suicide rate for black preteens disproves that suicide is a “white phenomenon”.

Unfortunately, this idea in minority communities still exists and is being passed down to future generations. The National Alliance on Mental Illness finds that this can be toxic to the child as they grow and even make their relationship with their parents more toxic. It can also increase those feelings of helplessness and loneliness that often accompany depression and other mental illnesses.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, when a child’s mental health is neglected, it's possible for them to later turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as drugs, alcohol or self-harm.

Even worse, this neglect could lead a child to commit suicide.

The most recent child suicide that upset the nation was that of Seven Bridges, a young African-American boy. Bullied for his need of a colostomy bag due to a birth defect, Bridges was found dead by his mother after he hanged himself on Jan. 19, 2019.

Bridges was only ten years old.

Though Bridges’ reason for suicide may not have been a result of just mental illness, his suicide coupled with his age is what makes his case stand out among others. Unfortunately, it's almost normal now for teenagers and young adults to commit suicide, but for a child--who barely has a grasp on the concept of life yet--to do the same, is what's so jarring.

Bridges isn’t the only child of color who’s taken their own life in recent years. Across the nation, many children of color have resorted to suicide.

Gabriel Taye, who was eight years old, hanged himself in his home of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2017.

Ashawnty Davis, who was 10 years old, took her own life the same way later that year.

Why do these young children of color feel the need to take their lives? Why do they feel there is nowhere else for them to turn to?

Though there is still a lot of research to be done, it's almost unarguable that the talk about suicide and mental illness needs to start in schools and homes.

Spreading awareness in schools and letting children know there is a place for them to go if they feel lost or helpless is not only necessary to maintain a productive learning environment, but also to give children a vital source in years where mental development is at one of its highest points.

Discussing mental illness in homes is an even more important step to ensuring that children of color are comfortable discussing their feelings to their loved ones without being dismissed or looked down upon.

This is something minority communities must start implementing, and soon.

Children of color are dying by their own hand and if we want to continue creating flourishing communities children of color can thrive in, then we need to keep those children around long enough for them to become successful, healthy adults.

The only way we can even begin to do this is to break the stigma that mental illness is exclusive to white individuals. The stigma that children of color are weak or ungrateful or sensitive if they show any emotion other than elation needs to be eradicated.

Children of all races and ethnicities need to know their feelings are valid and their mental health is important.

Then, and only then, we will start to see change.

Parents, Tami Charles and Donnie Bridges, mourn the loss of their ten-year-old son, Seven Bridges, who took his own life in January 2019. 

Dr. Michael A. Lindsay (pictured left) uses his poverty and mental health expertise to spread his knowledge on the mental health of colored children at a live panel for the film Black Boys.

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