Carrying It All: Easing the Mental Load
Today I want to dive into a topic that hits home for many Black women: the mental load that you might find yourself lugging around. It’s like carrying a massive suitcase full of responsibilities, worries, and never-ending to-dos.
From the crack of dawn to late at night, your mind is a whirlwind of things to manage. It’s not just your own life; it’s handling everyone else’s too. You’re the ultimate multitasker, problem-solver, and planner, and the emotional support for your family. And besides your personal responsibilities, societal expectations and biases add extra weight. You face challenges and unfair stereotypes that others might not even recognize, making the load even heavier. Finding time for self-care or just to unload that mental baggage? You know it’s crucial, but with your busy schedule and responsibilities, it often feels near impossible. That’s part of the mental load too.
Does this all sound familiar? Are you nodding along right now? Here’s something that may surprise you: from working with my patients, I know for a fact that many, many women feel the same way you do. They also feel this heavy burden. And like you, they often feel alone in it.
Often, this burden is carried silently. Black women have a historical reputation for resilience and strength, and sometimes it feels like talking about it or asking for help is showing too much vulnerability. Then there might be a sense of guilt for inconveniencing others or a self-imposed obligation to fulfill numerous roles, making it tough to reach out for support.
Acknowledging this weight and talking about it is key to building up a supportive society. And that’s where I want you to start — start by recognizing that you carry this weight, that most women do, and that you’re not alone.
The mental load goes beyond task management; it’s an internal battle. I encourage conversation around this — whether here in the comments, on social media, in my private Facebook group, with your girlfriends, with your sister. Talk about the mental load. Open up about how it’s affecting you, how it makes you feel, what it means to you. Where you most struggle to ask for help.
Fostering a supportive community is crucial. It’s time to redefine the norms and make it normal to talk about the mental load Black women bear — and empower and uplift each other to ease this load.
