“How Racism Makes Us Sick”

The three main scales for measuring racism were discrimination on minor, subtle, and major experiences.

Higher levels of discrimination are associated with a range of infections from breast cancer, obesity, heart disease, or blood pressure and even premature mortality. Mental health risks such as depression, anxiety, constant stress, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

“unconscious bias” or implicit bias have negative impacts on the quality of healthcare. This is the case since discrimination leads to the patient needs being ignored by the healthcare needs. Therefore, it is important to reduce bias as much as possible in the healthcare system. To accomplish that, implicit bias training is needed among healthcare providers to help them understand their thought and behavior patterns and how they would impact patients. This learning process can be accomplished through various tools such as workshops, social media posts, and online content which reduces implicit bias. It’s a win-win scenario for everybody involved!The media’s representation of individuals surely has an impact on their biases. Many unfavorable perceptions about African Americans emerge from media depictions of us as violent or aggressive, dumb and silly, whereas most movies depict white people as affluent, successful, and clever. These continual pictures and scenarios are pushed into our daily lives not only via cinema but also through the news. When a black individual commits a violent crime, they are instantly regarded as wicked and competent. When compared to a white individual. The media’s portrayal of individuals of color is frequently limited, stereotyped, and lacking in diversity. This frequently fosters misconceptions about people of color (for example, portraying them as common criminals) and leads to racial profiling. The absence of depiction of people of color influences our views about them, which in turn influences how we interact with them in real life. Because the majority of the media presents them negatively, our views about people of color frequently become negative as well. It also leads to prejudice and racial discrimination.

It is critical to recognize and resolve our own unconscious prejudices in order to enhance our attitudes and conduct toward persons of color and to advance justice, equality, and diversity in society. Self-introspection can be beneficial in holding oneself accountable for unconscious prejudices. Furthermore, asking a person of color for constructive comments on our conduct and interactions might be good. To make this work, we need to make a commitment to ask for constructive feedback from persons of color. We have no idea how our behavior affects racial dynamics in society, the workplace, or in our family. We may not even realize that the dynamics are present. If we don’t self-monitor and confront our own biases, we may grow apart from people of color and fail to develop positive relationships with them. In addition, without noticing and resolving implicit biases, people of color may feel that they are being mistreated or ignored, which could lead them to pursue intentional strategies for changing their behavior.