‘Weather’ Affects Black Women’s Health. What can we do about it?

For many years, Black women have been told that the negative health outcomes we face are our own fault. We are fed the rhetoric that we have diabetes because we won’t stop eating foods which have been passed right down to us from our ancestors. We are genetically handicapped because we are inferior. We don’t exercise enough because we are lazy. Black women are told that we should not allowed to live so long as other races because we should not adequate.

Public health researcher Arline Geronimous challenged this notion in her 368-page book released in 2023. In the book, Geronimous delves into the results of stress on the body, specifically specializing in the health effects of Black women. In summary, he argues that the chronic stress of living in a racist society contributes significantly to poor health outcomes for marginalized people.

The public health researcher argues that the more dire health outcomes experienced by Black women are the results of the repeated impact of living under pressure on the intersection of race and gender, compounded by living in oppressive systems. This perspective, specific to Black women, sheds light on their unique challenges and the way they manifest of their health. In other words, Geronimous concludes that there are more aspects that influence our health.

Although the term “weathering” attempts to position the blame for poor health on Black women and shine a light-weight on oppressive systems, Atlanta nurse Patricia Allen has mixed feelings about the word.

“While this may accurately reflect the challenges black women face in society, it can also be seen as labeling them as more fragile or inferior,” she explains. Allen doesn’t wish to hear terms describing something as “worn out or tired” when talking about his health in a bunch or as a person. But she acknowledges that research shows that black women not only have greater health disparities, but in addition more dire outcomes, and this must be addressed.

On the opposite hand, Melissa Ifll, a clinical social employee and wellness coach in Atlanta, agrees with the term.

“I see that the Black women I work with come in physically and emotionally tired, with a myriad of health symptoms,” she says. “Everything from chronic insomnia to lupus, after which symptoms that haven’t got a diagnosis but affect functioning. My clients are successful, but their bodies are damaged when we start working together.

Whether weatherization is a suitable term or not, the impact of stress on Black women is undeniable. AND 2022 article on the National Library of Medicine titled “Assessing Gender- and Race-Related Stress Among Black Women” found that we have higher levels of psychological stress than white women. Moreover, we usually tend to suffer from chronic stress-related conditions, comparable to obesity, and experience stress related to race and gender.

Turning to real-life examples, we have seen Black women speak out about the challenges they face in institutional structures and the stressors they’ve recently caused. An Oscar-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson she said she considered quitting acting on account of feeling underpaid and never recognized despite her labor. We saw Claudine Gay resign as president of Harvard University after being attacked for calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. We heard about the death of Dr Antoinette “Bonnie” Candia-Bailey after she wrote that she felt vilified by the vice-chancellor of Lincoln University. These are all initial stress bins for Black women, riddled with discrimination and racism. While we have not heard these women openly say that they’re stressed or that they’re experiencing poor health outcomes due to their experiences, their situation could easily create an ideal storm for weather conditions.

“Every day at work I hear about this feeling of being at the fishbowl and being criticized by black female customers,” Ifill says. “In fact, sometimes it seems like the closer they are to their perceived power, the more challenged they feel.” Black women are on the intersection of race and gender, and plenty of feel that irrespective of how high they rise within the roles they’re asked to play, they are going to at all times be disregarded, excluded, and ignored. The term weathering refers to this level of fatigue. This particularly applies to the breakdown of our bodies under the stressors and dire health outcomes we face.

“Black women typically experience earlier onset, delayed treatment, and more severe symptoms compared to other groups,” Allen says. She treated black women for a spread of issues, from chronic mental health issues to reproductive issues to hypertension and diabetes.

While these health problems often result from the poor systems we interact with to deal with our health, research shows that additionally it is a biological impact of stress and the results of so-called telomere shortening.

Telomeres help the body distinguish healthy cells from damaged ones. Damaged telomeres prevent cell division, which is needed for healthy cells within the body and a powerful immune system. Shortened telomeres prevent cells from dividing and dying, which causes them to release chemicals that cause inflammation within the body, which is the explanation for many diseases. Our bodies come into contact with many diseases regularly, but when we experience chronic stress, our immune systems are unable to fight off infections, and these diseases attack and make us sicker, often sicker than others.

So what to do about it? We also have to deal with ourselves by way of emotional well-being and medicine; the answer is prevention. Preventive care is two-fold; may include regular visits with a trusted health care provider, in addition to an assessment of your lifestyle. On the previous, Allen says black women should consider genetic testing and seek advice from their doctor about it.

“The impact of stress on health is a posh interplay of genetic susceptibility and youth experiences. Some individuals are generally more sensitive to emphasize on account of genetic differences that make them more prone to stressors, he says.

For this reason, functional medicine and genetic testing can play a big role in identifying the basis causes of disease. These approaches give attention to personalized treatment plans and lifestyle modifications based on genetic predisposition and disease risk.

That said, preventative care goes beyond annual visits to a wellness center — it is also about assessing the life-style we create through the work we select and the way we deal with ourselves, explains Ifil.

“Often we don’t even think about the life we ​​lead and what impact it has on us. We pursue roles and lifestyles because we believe we should have them and they are cultural norms, but we don’t consider the impact these roles have on us,” she explains. “We always need to take inventory of what we really want, the impact of our choices, and walk away from things when we realize they are not serving us.”

Constant mindfulness is important because stress affects our cognitive abilities, and increasing stress makes it difficult to resolve problems creatively. So you’ll want to pay attention to what you might be agreeing to and have a plan to deal with yourself through it. For example, if you happen to determine to remain in corporate America, prepare a self-care plan to aid you deal with the stress of labor. Meditation, journaling, finding a protected place to vent fears, setting boundaries, and searching for moments of joy and true connection alleviate stress.

Black women face countless social and political situations which can be stressful for us. However, we must bear in mind that the impact of stress will not be only psychological, but in addition biological. Understanding our needs, our family history, and searching for competent care to resolve problems are only a number of the ways we can deal with ourselves. Additionally, it is necessary that we take the time to grasp that we can make decisions that lead us to situations which can be at increased risk of stress. Ultimately, we must make decisions that support our overall well-being, even when it means leaving these situations behind.