ABOUT
Imadé (ee-MAH-day) is a writer and mental health advocate who founded Depressed While Black®. She is a suicide attempt survivor who lives with clinical depression 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 that donates Black-affirming personal care items to psychiatric patients and connects people to Black therapists.
Vision Statement:
Depressed While Black envisions a world where people of African descent heal from severe depression through Black-affirming mental health support and advocacy.
Speaking Requests:
"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, I had nothing but the clothes I came in with. I was barefoot, and literally wearing my trauma. I made a commitment that I wouldn't let this happen to anyone else.
When I first asked a staff member what patients wanted at the beginning of our donations, I was surprised that the first request they had was 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 each month. Depressed While Black is currently providing this service for Alamance Regional Behavioral Health Hospital in Burlington, NC.
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. So far, we ordered 300 Black Beauty Supply kits for 7 hospitals and one peer respite center!
As a trial run, Black Beauty Supply kits were mailed 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), and Karaya Peer Respite.
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 DepressedWhileBlack@gmail.com
100% of donations are used for the Wish List program and Black Beauty Supply Kits.
Donate at depressedwhileblack.kindful.com.
This is what Depressed While Black ordered or gave in
July 2023:
Alamance Regional Behavioral Health
(Burlington, NC)
168 readers
20 Discharge Bags
16 Bras
Leslie's House
(High Point, NC)
20 Black Beauty Supply Kits
Heal at Home
Depressed While Black is launching an upcoming iniatitive called Heal at Home to support unhoused discharged patients leaving psychiatric hospitals.
Heal at Home Durham will be a pilot program in the form of a resource card with wraparound services such as housing, employment, and food support in the Durham area.
#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
SPEAKING
Bring Depressed While Black Founder Imadé to your next event
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
Wright Institute
Living Depressed While Black
Furman University
Blackness is not a Mental Health Problem
No More Martrys ResistRestRepeat Panel
Revolutionary Self-Care
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
VIDEOS
Watch and spread mental health awareness
Project UROK
Social Justice & Mental Health
BET: What's At Stake
Diagnosis Story
NEWSLETTER
Stay up to date on the latest Depressed While Black news
CONTACT
For booking, press requests, and freelance writing, or just to share your story
© 2016