Infographics
We conducted a survey on Black women and burnout and this is what they said:
Q: As a Black woman, what is the single most challenging issue you face related to stress, burnout, and busyness?
A: 31% said they're overwhelmed // 12% said family // 19% said lack of support // 8% said eating well
Q: How has stress impacted you physically?
A: 24% said sickness // 36% said weight gain // 24% said sleep issues // 12% said pain
Q: What do you do to relieve stress?
A: 44% said alone time // 39% said exercise // 15% said social time
Q: What are your thoughts & feelings about the description "strong Black woman?"
A: 100% of women said they felt pressure to be strong for everyone else and never show their own emotions, vulnerability, or pain.
Black Women Burnout: The Impacts
1. Black women are 7.5 years biologically “older” than white women due to repeated or prolonged stress.
2. Telomere length, a marker of human aging, premature morbidity, and mortality, which are associated with chronic stress, are shorter for Black women facing daily racism.
3. Black women burnout often is unaddressed because 43% of all American millennials are non-white but their success is often rooted in the experiences of privileged white men and women.
Black Women Burnout: Physical Consequences
Insomnia
Depressive symptoms
Use of psychotropic and antidepressant medications
Hospitalization for mental disorders
Psychological ill-health symptoms
Intergenerational trauma can further the impacts of burnout creating anxiety and low self esteem.
Black Women Burnout: Fatigue
Coined by author Mary Frances Winters, “Black fatigue is the physical and psychological toll on Black people’s daily lives as a result of systemic racism.”
Continuous media displays of death of Black people and grief, discounting professionalism in workspaces, nicknames, and overt racism contribute but are rarely a topic of discussion in non-Black spaces.
Black and white women have similar breast cancer incidence rates, but Black women are 40% more likely to die of the disease
Black men are more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than twice as likely as other men to die from prostate cancer
Having the power to improve the lives of others is a privilege, one that is closely associated with its own sense of obligation. Acting on these powerful feeling of responsibility is an excellent way of reinforcing our own personal values and feel like we’re living in a way that abides by our beliefs.
In 2017, 10.6 percent of African Americans were uninsured
12.6 percent of African American children had asthma
42% of African American adults over age 20 suffer from hypertension compared with 28.7% of non-Hispanic white adults.
There are 11 infant deaths per 1,000 live births among Black Americans. This is almost twice the national average of 5.8 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.
8.7 percent of African American adults received mental health services compared with 18.6 percent of non-Hispanic white adults.
Black Women Burnout: Physical Consequences
Hypercholesterolemia
Type 2 diabetes
Coronary heart disease
Hospitalization from cardiovascular disorder
Musculoskeletal pain
Prolonged fatigue
Headaches
Gastrointestinal issues
Respiratory problems
Severe injuries
Mortality below the age of 45 years old
Black Women Burnout: Grief
Nearly 1 in 3 Black Americans personally knows someone who has died of COVID-19.
Black Americans are more likely to experience the deaths of mothers, fathers, and siblings in early childhood.
Only 1 in 3 Black people who need mental health care fine help and still receive poorer quality of care, lack access to culturally competent practitioners, and face stigma from their community.