HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!! ~ :)
Today is YOUR day! It is YOUR day to sit back and kick up your feet and enjoy the gifts and breakfast smorgasboard. Relax in front of the television and stretch your toes in your new pair of slippers.
By this afternoon, the excitement of the day will be spilling out of you as you finally test out YOUR new gadgets the kids chipped in and bought for you ... POWER TOOLS! YIPPIE!
GO AHEAD! YOU deserve to whack the weeds, trim the lawn, clip those hedges, drill holes, ride on the lawn mower, build an entertainment center, or lean back on your massaging back rest. :):)
WOW, it will be lunch time before you know it and that Coconut Cake your wife baked has been screaming YOUR name all morning! Top that cake off with some ice cream and chocolate kisses and you're living like a King.
Back to the easy chair and reach for your newest remote control. I know you're loving that new thing and pushing buttons like a mad man. But don't tire yourself out because soon you will be whisking off to your pop's house for that buffet dinner your mom has been sweating over in the kitchen since break of dawn this morning ... and you get to wear that brand new tie!!!! WHAT A DAY!:)
This is truly a well-deserving day for fathers every where and we applaud YOU for heading our families and our homes. We applaud YOU for fixing what's broken and keeping the kids in check. We applaud YOU for being who YOU are with your humor, smiles, hearty laughs, authority, disciplines, love, support, compassion, and caring ways.
We want YOU to know that we got YOUR back during this recession and if YOU need to talk about YOUR worries or anxieties or fears, we are here for YOU!
We want YOU to know that we are praying for YOU to weather this recession guiding YOUR family and if YOU feel like your emotional health is becoming unmanageable, YOU can trust us to help YOU!
We want YOU to know YOU are not alone and that millions of fathers are in the same shoe and that there is help available to YOU and that reaching out for help is not a sign of weakness so trust US to help YOU stay strong and survive this recession.
So, if YOU can't sleep and YOU have been putting on a public face all day and hiding your pain and worries, YOU can open up and talk.
Did YOU know that mental illnesses typically show up in males around age 35?
Did YOU know that 7 percent of Black men experience severe depression during their lifetime? (This does not incude low-level, ongoing depression).
Did YOU know that the death rate of black men who suffer with depression is twice that of black women?
Did YOU know that more black men abuse alcohol than white men, white women, and black women?
Did YOU know that when a black man adopts an attitude of "who cares," his family begings to deteriorate?
In the words of black men suffering with some form of depression:
"I can't see 'em comin down my eyes. So I gotta make the song cry." ~ JAY-Z
"I tried to deal with it myself. But I found out that I couldn't do it." ~ Calvin Pete
"Suicide, I'm ready!" ~ Notorious B.I.G.
"After a while, it's not pretending when you have to suppress your feelings." ~ 50 Cent
Excerpts taken from "Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We're Not Hurting" By Terrie M. Williams
Did YOU know that denying that YOU may have a mental condition can lead to a more serious mental illness making your health status more debilitating over time?
We are your wives, mothers, sisters, cousins, daughters, sons, friends, homies, brothers who love YOU enough to want YOU to be mentally well and have a really, really Happy Father's Day every day!:)
H A P P Y F A T H E R ' S D A Y!
American Association of Pastoral Counselors
www.aapc.org Association of Black Psychologists
www.abpi.org Black Psychiatrists of America
www.blackpsychiatristsofamerica.com EMDR Institute
www.emdr.com Carl Bell ~ "Challenges and Other Obstacles in Treating Mentally Ill Black Patients."
www.giftfromwithin.org/html/challenge.html Depression is Real
www.depressionisreal.com NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore
www.namimetropolitanbaltimore.org National Association of Black Social Workers
www.nabsw.org National Organization for People of Color Against Suicide
www.nopcas.com Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
www.samhsa.gov T. D. Jakes
www.thepottershouse.org The GOD Report
www.theGodreport.org Peace and love to all my brothers,
Agnes B. Levine, Author of "Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work By An African-American Bipolar Woman" ISBN 13 978-0-9754612-0-4 available on Amazon at
www.amazon.com TODAY!
Posted By: agnes levine
Sunday, June 21st 2009 at 10:59AM
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