Courtney B. Vance and Dr. Robin L. Smith Talk New Book and Black Men's Mental Health 

<div class="block">Actor and author Courtney B. Vance joined &#39;beWell&#39; to talk about his latest work, written with psychologist Dr. Robin L. Smith, <i>The Invisible Ache: Black Men Identifying Their Pain and Reclaiming Their Power</i>. Vance told Cheddar News&#39; Shannon LaNier that he was inspired to write the book after his godson&#39;s death, which was deemed a suicide and all too familiar after he father died under the same circumstances. </div>

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Be Well: Courtney B. Vance and Dr. Robin Talk New Book and Black Men's Mental Health 

The Invisible Ache is a powerful book about black men identifying their pain and reclaiming their power. So, Courtney, why was this important for you to create a book like this? Well, my uh my godson died of suicide. Um He was 23. Um and uh and my father had died, this is three years ago. My father had died uh uh suicide 30 years ago, 33 years ago. And so I said, you know, that I, that's enough. I mean, it was, you know, really about the conversation and the connection and she and I, we don't, you know, we love you, but we could, we could do this, you know, for hours, we, we, we could just turn to each other. And so what about this? Not about that. And before, you know, it three hours ago, but since you're here, um but it was uh my godson and my father were the, you know, the stimulus or c yes. And so Courtney's Godson is um Courtney's Godson was 23 years young and what a vibrant um life and what vibrant pain. Um You know, one of the things Courtney and I talk about in the book is the acronym Hope, which is hold on pain ends. And so often Courtney's Godson, Courtney's father and millions of other people who are struggling with depression anxiety, they don't know that the pain will end short of death. And so a part of the invisible ache is to call forth a language um that can hold their pain mirror that we hear them and we see them, we're hoping and believing and committed that the invisible ache is um the opportunity for us, for Courtney and myself to raise our voices and to honor his dad, um dad Vance, daddy, Vance and his godson um that what they were trying to tell us. Now, Courtney and I have put at least in part in the invisible ache. Well, you know, Doctor Robin, so many people still to this day, don't think that people in the black community are impacted by mental health issues. Can you maybe quantify that a little bit with some statistics? You know, the numbers? It's interesting and I say this a lot that uh it's a cliche but it is true often that when white people get a cold, black people get pneumonia. So what does that mean? It means that at larger proportions, black people are being under diagnosed with anxiety, depression, bipolar, I mean all of those labels under diagnosed, but at a higher incident, we are suffering and we know and this is a terrifying statistic that Children, black Children and black and brown Children are dying by suicide. I want us to take a look at how is it that we are suffering and black Children and black boys and men at a higher incident than any other country in the world. And Courtney, you mentioned that you lost your godson as a victim of suicide. But also your father, how did those experiences impact your ability to write in your journey to write this book? Well, my father's death uh propelled my, our entire family because our, our mother, my sister and I uh when we finished uh uh helping get our mother's affairs together, our mothers challenged us all and said, when you go back to our your respective seasons, I want you to uh you know, find someone to talk to. What resources would you say are available to help people that are looking for a better life. There are groups, there are community mental health centers, there are also universities um centers where people are training to be therapists. Congratulations on this amazing work. Continue to spread the word that healing is possible. Absolutely. Thank you.