Best Stress Booksfor Black People

Is there a need for a stress management book for black people?

There are plenty of books on stress management.  They should be good enough for everyone no matter what color right?  Stress is stress and how to reduce the negative effects should be the same for everyone, you would think.

There are a lot of differences in our backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and environments.  Some of these have nothing to do with the color of our skin and some do.

Some of the sources of stress for black people are the same as they are for other races.  Some of them are very different.  For people who are not black it is often hard to understand those stresses that seem to be unique to the race.  Some of the stressors are relatively small like other people being obviously uncomfortable getting on an elevator with you.  Others are much bigger like being racially profiled and being stopped for driving while black, being arrested, or shot unjustly.   Black people also are stressed due to discrimination related to education, employment, banking, and housing.

Not only are the sources of stress often different, the negative effects may also be more dangerous for black people.  The average book about stress doesn’t address these issues.

An example of a subtle educational source of stress is that most of the history taught about black people starts with slavery.  What a downer!  Black people are taught that they were stolen from Africa and placed into slavery.  Finally due to the kindness of some nice white people including Abraham Lincoln they were freed.  This does nothing good for self-esteem.  People from other cultures are often taught much more positive things about the history of their people.  They are usually taught about what their ancestors did in the countries they came from and why they came to America.  For black people there seems to be no history before slavery except that our ancestors came from Africa.  Even the way Africa is portrayed is negative.  We were fed images of jungles and savages with no organization or civilization.  Africa is talked about as though it is a single country when it is a continent made up of more than 50 countries today.  There is so much more for black students to learn about Africa, the specific countries, the history, people, inventors, scholars civilizations, etc. that would improve the self-confidence and self-worth of black people.  Not having that information is a source of stress.  Looking at other people and learning positive things about their history and cultures but not your own can make you feel less than other people.  There is no surprise that many people believe that this is all by design.  Books like The Mis-education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson discuss this.

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Stress Management Book for Black People

 Is there a need for a stress management book for black people?

There are plenty of books on stress management.  They should be good enough for everyone no matter what color right?  Stress is stress and how to reduce the negative effects should be the same for everyone, you would think.

There are a lot of differences in our backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and environments.  Some of these have nothing to do with the color of our skin and some do.

Some of the sources of stress for black people are the same as they are for other races.  Some of them are very different.  For people who are not black it is often hard to understand those stresses that seem to be unique to the race.  Some of the stressors are relatively small like other people being obviously uncomfortable getting on an elevator with you.  Others are much bigger like being racially profiled and being stopped for driving while black, being arrested, or shot unjustly.   Black people also are stressed due to discrimination related to education, employment, banking, and housing.

Not only are the sources of stress often different, the negative effects may also be more dangerous for black people.  The average book about stress doesn’t address these issues.

An example of a subtle educational source of stress is that most of the history taught about black people starts with slavery.  What a downer!  Black people are taught that they were stolen from Africa and placed into slavery.  Finally due to the kindness of some nice white people including Abraham Lincoln they were freed.  This does nothing good for self-esteem.  People from other cultures are often taught much more positive things about the history of their people.  They are usually taught about what their ancestors did in the countries they came from and why they came to America.  For black people there seems to be no history before slavery except that our ancestors came from Africa.  Even the way Africa is portrayed is negative.  We were fed images of jungles and savages with no organization or civilization.  Africa is talked about as though it is a single country when it is a continent made up of more than 50 countries today.  There is so much more for black students to learn about Africa, the specific countries, the history, people, inventors, scholars civilizations, etc. that would improve the self-confidence and self-worth of black people.  Not having that information is a source of stress.  Looking at other people and learning positive things about their history and cultures but not your own can make you feel less than other people.  There is no surprise that many people believe that this is all by design.  Books like The Mis-education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson discuss this.

It is important for black people to address and manage their stress because we are more susceptible to some of the illnesses that are thought to be stress related like hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes.  A book directly dealing with the unique sources and results of stress and ways to address them in a way that is culturally sensitive and effective way by black people and for black people is needed.  There may be some already and I think there is room for another one.  I have work to do.

Harry L. Campbell

914-762-4646 – Harry@biofeedbackinternational.com

Author of What Stress Can Do, Available on Amazon.com

Biofeedback Resources International Corp.

More Info : Biofeedback for Psychologists

How Biofeedback Training Reduces Stress

The Problem of Stress

Biofeedback training is an effective method for reducing the negative effects of stress.  There are many sources of stress including politics, natural disasters, terrorist acts, work, family, and financial problems, and traffic.  In this world of 24 hour TV and radio news plus news on our computers, we are constantly bombarded with stressful, negative information.  If that wasn’t enough we have smart phones, tablets, and smart watches with us at all times to make sure that we don’t miss anything.  Wherever we are we can stay up on what is happening.  Besides the information we get from news sources, we also get blogs and podcasts.  In addition to these stress sources, the people who we interact with who cause us stress are able to call, text, or email us 24 hours a day 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Biofeedback Training Method of Reducing Stress

People need methods of reducing the negative effects of stress.  Many of the solutions that are offered are medications.  Even when they are effective they often come with unwanted side-effects.  Thankfully there are some non-drug methods of reducing stress.  Biofeedback training is one such method.  Biofeedback instruments measure muscle tension, skin temperature, skin conductance (sweat), breathing, heart rate, and brainwave activity.  With biofeedback training people learn to control the way their body reacts to stress by viewing a biofeedback device while they practice relaxation exercises.

Where can you get biofeedback training?

Biofeedback training is available through some healthcare professionals like psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health counselors, social workers, physical therapists, and nurses.

You can find a good biofeedback provider by searching the directories of your local regional biofeedback society or association.  Go to www.aapb.org  which is the website for the Association for Applied Psychophysiology & Biofeedback.  They have a list of biofeedback providers there as well as a list of regional biofeedback societies or chapters.  You can also check to see if they are certified by the BCIA (Biofeedback Certification International Alliance) on the www.bcia.org website.  Although this certification does not guarantee excellence it does indicate that the provider has met a minimum requirement of education, biofeedback training, experience, mentoring, and that they have passed an exam.  I recommend that if a person is interested in doing biofeedback training that they first visit a trained healthcare provider who offers biofeedback training.  The professional can perform a proper psychophysiological stress profile assessment to find out which biofeedback modality will be most appropriate for the person.  They then can give them professionally supervised biofeedback training in their office.  Once they learn the basics and make some progress in learning biofeedback the professional can recommend a home device that the person can use to continue their biofeedback training at home.

More Info :  How Biofeedback Training Reduces Stress