Rapper Danny Brown Tweets About His Struggle With Mental Illness

He also sheds light on the broader issue of black men to cope with depression and anxiety.

By Jamilah King Feb 17, 2014

Detroit-based rapper Danny Brown is known for painting dark and vivid images in his music. But this week on Twitter, he opened up about about how his own battle with depression impacts his work:

Alexander Hardy explained over at EBONY:

He was, however, speaking candidly about his mental health issues, talking openly about depression, insomnia, drug use and death.

"I can’t sleep my anxiety is at an all time high (sic) but don’t none of y’all care about that sh*t," Danny confessed. Then, "Depression is serous y’all think I do drugs cause it’s fun."

It’s not the first that Brown has spoken publicly about his struggles with depression and anxiety. Back in 2011, he told MTV about self-medicating with drugs like Aderrall, which needs to be looked at in the bigger picture. As Kellee Terrell pointed out at BET not too long ago, too many black boys and men are suffering through mental illness in silence. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the third cause of death among African-American males between ages 15 and 24, behind homicide and accidents. And while suicide rates among Black men are lower than their white counterparts, our rates have gone up dramatically. A report from the U.S. Surgeon General found that from 1980 to 1995, the suicide rate among African-Americans ages 10 to 14 increased 233 percent, as compared to 120 percent of whites. Not to mention the suicide rates of Black men are four times higher than Black women.

Even facing that dismal reality, black men are the least likely to access mental health services thanks, in part, to how difficult it is for black men to get affordable health care. But, most importantly as Terrell points out, there’s also the stigma associated with mental illness that equates manhood with being "devoid of emotions."