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Mental health in the Black community is being ignored and Daniel Prude is one example of this critical issue not being taken seriously.

Prude was experiencing a mental health crisis. His brother, Joe Prude, had called 911 on Wednesday, March 23 at 3 a.m. to report that his brother had run out of their house in Rochester during the winter with no clothes on. Prude was suffering from a psychiatric crisis but the police did not seem to handle the situation with that in mind, using force although Prude was cooperative.

After being taken to the hospital, Prude unfortunately passed away. Looking at past hospital visits, he went to the hospital due to experiencing mental health problems but was sent back home three hours after being checked in — police reports show that the hospital gave no diagnosis.

Prude was taken to the hospital after the incident, where he died ten days later. Although tragic, Prude’s story was hardly shared in media outlets.

When a Black individual dies from systems meant to protect them, the cause is never superficial. Daniel Prude had a chance to receive help when his brother took him to the hospital prior to that Wednesday. The police were made aware that the call was a mental health crisis. Prude was found naked, unarmed and compliant, but police still used force.

There is no one person at fault for the death of individuals like Prude — though there is a phenomenon between the criminalization of Black individuals and their emotions perceived by the police. Outside hurdles contribute to harm done to victims such as Daniel Prude. Black patients going to the hospital are found to receive care that is not up to date with hospital policies or use outdated equipment. Prior to Prude’s death, a conversation to decriminalize being Black and mentally ill was already on the table, stressing the need to step back and look at different structures that play into systematic racism that end up failing and hurting the Black community.

As a result, those in Black communities distrust systems that provide mental health care. This distrust is rooted in a history of Black patients being misdiagnosed at higher rates than white patients and being exploited by the U.S. government and the medical community.

Considering the lack of proper care and diagnosis for Black patients, suicide is the second leading cause of death for those between the ages of 15 to 24. Black men are four times more likely to die of suicide. What then needs to change systematically to better support and protect Black patients facing mental illness?

Two years after the death of Daniel Prude, the city of Rochester made no effort to increase access to resources, or enforce policy or training to their police department and the hospital that treated him. The investigation ended once the New York attorney general announced that the grand jury would not bring an indictment against the officers.

Black people who complete suicides are often students. Resources should be plentiful at schools and staff should be trained to properly support the mental health of their students of color. There are ways to implement policies within spaces, such as a school, before it reaches a point where police must be called in to handle a crisis they are not trained for. Social workers and counselors should be the first point of contact for incidents that involve people in crisis.

Students enrolled in colleges, especially private universities, should not have to overcome barriers to access mental health care. Constant data should be collected to understand what demographic of the student body goes to counseling the most, seeks out resources on campus and reports suicidal thoughts, as well as why students may continue to struggle with their mental health after receiving all the resources avaliable on their college campus.

Syracuse University and many other private institutions have the power to create policies that impact students on campus facing mental health issues. Simply asking what students need or if the resources that are available are enough to help support them.

Sarhia Rahim is a Sophomore Policy Studies Major. Her Column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at slrahim@syr.edu.

Published on November 28, 2022 at 1:14 am