Transcript
I didn't want to open up as much
if I was talking to a
therapist who was white
because I just didn't know exactly
what they were going to think.
I didn't think that I was
going to be taken serious
because of how old I was.
And then, all the other Veterans
who were coming in and out
of that VA were also white
and I'm like, "Oh, my God!
Here I am, this young black kid."
And I didn't want to be there.
And when I'm going to
meet with these therapists
and things like that, it
was just really awkward.
And you can tell that they
were trying to do their job,
but it was just hard for me
to open up back then to
someone who wasn't black,
because I didn't know how
to really tell my story
in a way or talk about my injuries
or how I felt in a way that...
That would be understood.
I didn't know how to tell people I was
in pain professionally.
I would go in there and
say, "I feel effed up.
I'm not feeling good."
And I didn't feel
comfortable telling people
that I used to drink to cope
because I didn't want to be stereotyped.
So, I would lie.
And it probably halted my treatment
because I wasn't telling
the truth back then.
But, it was tough to be in those rooms
with those clinicians because, you know,
being a young black kid,
even though I just got done
serving in the military
for five years,
I didn't know how to talk to
these doctors in these rooms.