ABOUT
Imadé (ee-MAH-day) is a writer and mental health advocate who founded Depressed While Black® to meet a desparate need to find other Black people like herself who live with depression. She is a suicide attempt survivor who lives with clinical depression, anxiety, and borderline personality disorder. Imadé first developed Depressed While Black as her 2015 Columbia University Non-Fiction Creative Writing MFA thesis.
Depressed While Black has grown into an online community and a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in July 2020 that provides Black-affirming personal care items and advocacy for psychiatric patients of African descent who have life-threatening depression. When DWB founder Imadé Nibokun was admitted to a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt in 2018, she had no Black beauty supply products, which caused her hair and skin to deteriorate. Imadé had to wear clothes from the Lost and Found and wear pads that felt like diapers. She made a commitment that no other psychiatric patient would experience this.
Since DWB became a nonprofit, Depressed While Black has donated over 300 Black Beauty Supply Kits to 8 psychiatric facilities across the East Coast.
Total Donations:
- 300+ Black Beauty Supply Kits (made by Black owned company Hairizon)
- 2,500+ menstrual products
- 2,000+ undergarments
- 500+ flip flops, slippers, and shoes
- 600+ journals and planners
WISH LIST
We use your monetary donations to purchase Black-affirming personal care items for psychiatric patients.
Donate to make a difference.
"A patient was here and he had nothing. When it came time to discharge him we were able to give him socks, underwear, and a T-shirt from your donations. He said it had been a while since he was able to get a new pair of underwear. Your donation made it possible for us to help a patient in need."
-Staff Member at Alamance Regional Behavioral Health Hospital
When I was hospitalized in 2018, I had nothing but the clothes I came in with. I was barefoot, and soiled my shirt. I was literally wearing my trauma. Despite this, I received no Black beauty supplies from the hospital and had to wear clothes from the Lost & Found. I made a commitment that I wouldn't let this happen to anyone else.
At the beginning of the pandemic, when I first asked a staff member what patients wanted, I was surprised that they would often request Chapstick. We are in the middle of a global crisis, but small things like giving Chapstick can help people care for their bodies and live with dignity.
As a nonprofit, Depressed While Black receives a wish list from psychiatric patients and staff and then donates these items. After donating to Alamance Regional Behavioral Health Hospital in Burlington, NC for over three years, Depressed While Black is currently providing this service for Duke Children's Hospital in Durham, NC. We have been told that our donated items like shoes and slippers can be the difference between leaving the hospital barefoot or leaving the hospital with dignity.
Depressed While Black also provides Black Beauty Supply Kits for psychiatric patients where each individual kit includes all-natural travel-size shampoo, conditioner, hair oil, and shea body butter. The kit also includes chapstick, a satin bonnet, a wave cap, a wide-tooth comb, and a handle-less brush. These items are sourced from Hairizon, a Black owned beauty company. On each bottle are inspirational messages recommended by former psychiatric patients. So far, we ordered over 300 Black Beauty Supply kits for 7 hospitals and one peer respite center!
With your donations, we donated Black Beauty Supply Kits to Columbia University Psychiatry (New York, NY), UNC Psychiatry (Chapel Hill, NC), Howard University Psychiatry (Washington D.C.), Washington Heights Community Service (New York, NY), Cone Health Behavioral Health (Greensboro, NC), Central Regional Hospital (Butner, NC), Karaya Peer Respite (Massachusetts), and Duke Children's Hospital (Durham, NC).
Would you like to send a Wish List or are you a business owner wanting to donate your items or offer them at a reduced price?
Contact: info@depressedwhileblack.org
100% of donations are used for the Wish List program and Black Beauty Supply Kits.
Donate at bit.ly/DonateToDWB
This is what Depressed While Black donated in July 2024:
Duke Children's Hospital - Psychiatric ER
772 Pads
600 Tampons
53 Shorts40 Body wash
30 Shea butter
20 deodorant
10 lotion
Help Me Find A Therapist
The Help Me Find A Therapist program was created by Depressed While Black in the summer of 2020 to meet an urgent need to support Black people accessing the mental health system for the first time due to the dual traumas of the pandemic and police brutality. This program initially included a Google Form where people submit their criteria for a Black therapist. Users enter confidential information such as insurance, the type of therapy they are looking for, and the mental health condition they want the therapist to address. A Help Me Find A Therapist staff emails up to three Black therapist options based on a person's criteria.
The Help Me Find A Therapist program helped over 200 people find Black therapist options by manually searching for Black mental health professionals.
In Spring 2021, abolitionist and educator Mariame Kaba connected with the Help Me Find A Therapist program to discuss the possibility of a pilot project connecting formerly incarcerated individuals with therapists of color. In 2022, the Help Me Find A Therapist service launched REBUILD, a one-year pilot project focused on formerly incarcerated individuals looking for a therapist of color. At least four part-time paid staff (with priority consideration given to formerly incarcerated people and people who have lived experiences with mental health challenges) will assist in matching formerly incarcerated (and justice-involved) individuals with therapists of color. This assistance includes finding and vetting therapists, setting up appointments, and possibly facilitating the payment process. In addition, therapy costs for at least 20 individuals will be covered by the Help Me Find a Therapist program. With more funds raised, REBUILD can subsidize more people’s therapy costs.
Website: helpmefindatherapist.org
For more information: info@helpmefindatherapist.org
Disclaimer: As with any service, you are encouraged to research and consult with any providers before working with them to ensure a good fit. This program is not intended as a tool for verifying the credentials, qualifications, or abilities of any clinician listed.
#BuildABlackVision
We partnered with BEAM for #BIPOCMentalHealthMonth 2020 to #BuildABlackVision for mental health. We highlighted the experiences of Black people in psychiatric jails and facilitated dialogue to build a collective vision that transforms Black mental health in our country.
We want to defund the police and punitive psychiatric jails/hospitals in order to fully fund Black community mental health centers that prioritize peer-support, agency, and self-determination.
Read our articles on The Mighty:
What It Means to #BuildABlackVision for Mental Health
My Experience in Two Different Psychiatric Hospitals
How Do You 'Get Better' in a Psychiatric Hospital Where No One Understands You?
BLOG
Find mental health stories from an African-American lens and discover new mental health resources
BOOK
My in-progress book, Depressed While Black, explores race, religion, and romance all while popping Prozac and navigating therapy
STORE
De-stigmitize depression with these conversation starters. Masks are now available!
PRESS
Read more about the Depressed While Black experience
The Barriers to Finding Mental Healthcare While Black
What You’re Getting Wrong About Employee Burnout
I Can Never Be the Person I Was Before Having Treatment-Resistant Depression. And I Don’t Want to Be. (sponsored)
How Workplaces Can Support Black Mental Health
"I Have Treatment-Resistant Depression": What It's Like to Live With the Challenging Mental Illness
DAWN Saved My Life
What keeps some black women from seeking mental health care — and how therapists are working to change that
Three Reasons Why It Can Be Harder for Black Women To Get Mental Health Treatment
When medication is essential to mental health: CBD Stigma
The Relatable Depression of 'Never Say Never'
“Depressed While Black” founder Imade Nibokun is fearlessly changing the conversation around the future of Black mental health
'I Thought Depression Was a White People Disease': a Conversation with Depressed While Black
40 Women to Watch: The 2018 Edition
12 Wonder Women Who Inspire Us to Battle Mental Health Stigma
Kid Cudi and Depression
Commentary:
Sammus' hip-hop song about depression and suicidal thoughts that made me cry
Breaking The Stigma: Women Of Color Speaking Up For Minority Mental Health
This Is What It's Like To Be "Depressed While Black"
SPEAKING
Bring Depressed While Black Founder Imadé to your next event
From Burnout to your Best Self
72 Hours Later: Black in Mental Health Facilities w/ @depressedwhileblack
SPSM Chat
Fighting While Healing: Dismantling Systemic Racism to Improve Black Mental Health
A Conversation With BEAM Founder Yolo Akili
The Black People Who Were Left Behind: On Psychiatric Jails & Mental Illness
Bridging The Mental Health Treatment Gap: Ways To Reduce Stigma In The Workplace
COM Umoja Community and Psychological Services host Imadé Nibokun of Depressed While Black
The Mental Health Needs of Students of Color
JED Foundation's Storyteller Program
Jesus Told Me To Get On Antidepressants
Furman University
Blackness is not a Mental Health Problem
Minority Mental Health Summit
When A Woman Speaks Lunch Panel
Black Women's Life Balance & Wellness Conference at Spelman University
Spirituality and Mental Health
Blacktivism Conference at Emory Univeristy
Self-Care is the Movement
PODCASTS
Listen to Imadé talk about what it means to be Depressed While Black
NEWSLETTER
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