# Why are black people happier and less anxious?



## smackitt (Aug 11, 2011)

Hi,

I'm half white and half black, and I can't help but notice that black people (including dark-skinned South East Asians / Oceanians) seem happier and less anxious than most white folks (and light skinned East Asians and Hispanics). Why is this? Has there been done any research on this?

I've been all around the world and everywhere it seems to be like this. In countries where the majority of the population is black, there are rarely any mental institutions, or if there are, they are most likely to be empty.



Cleo said:


> A lot of mental health professionals try to leave race out of psychology. In the past, research in regards to race, has often supported a superior/inferiority belief. But I agree, it is interesting, and think it could be done in a respectful insightful way. It is funny that you have this, because I have been thinking it seems like a lot of people with African ancestory seem to have a more calm demeanor, and us whites often get made fun of for being up-tight and nerdy. Not saying at all that one race is all the way one way or the other, just something I have put some thought into lately. I thought it may have something to do with the enneagram. People from the power triad have a calm coolness about them, except for maybe the eights. Not too sure about that.


If there was an expert on this, I'd ask him / her:

- Could white peoples' lack of sun have deactivated some of the genes responsible for their well-being? If so, how could they reactivate them?

- Could the parts of white peoples' brains that have evolved to make them extra smart also be the cause of many of their mental illnesses? (i.e. they're still in the process of adapting to all these changes)

I saw a similar thread on this forum earlier, and it got many interesting replies (among all the accusations of the OP being a troll, and the "how dare you ask such questions" type of attitude), but I can't find it anymore.

--Roald


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## Zeptometer (Dec 5, 2010)

smackitt said:


> - Could the parts of white peoples' brains that have evolved to make them *extra smart* also be the cause of many of their mental illnesses? (i.e. they're still in the process of adapting to all these changes)







What? You can't be serious.


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## smackitt (Aug 11, 2011)

I don't know, take it with a pinch of salt - they just seem to have written the most books, built most great cities and invented most of modern science, medicine and technology. That doesn't mean non-whites are any dumber - just that whites had to invent these things in order to survive in their harsh new environment.


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## skycloud86 (Jul 15, 2009)

smackitt said:


> I don't know, take it with a pinch of salt - they just seem to have written the most books, built most great cities and invented most of modern science, medicine and technology. That doesn't mean non-whites are any dumber - just that whites had to invent these things in order to survive in their harsh new environment.


"White" people are no more smarter than any other group of people, and instead just had the good luck to have favourable conditions which allowed Europeans to develop their civilisations more and to dominate other areas of the globe. It has nothing to do with their skin colour or their ethnicity, and has everything to do with where they lived, what resources were available to them etc.

As for groups that you might see as less intelligent, such as the few hunter-gatherer groups left, they just aren't intelligent in the same way a Westerner would be, because our cultures prefer different kinds of intelligence to their cultures.


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## Figure (Jun 22, 2011)

This thread couldn't be more idiot, it's kind of funny


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## themartyparade (Nov 7, 2010)

Black people smoke weed.


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## Jennywocky (Aug 7, 2009)

One of my black friends and I had this conversation in passing a few weeks back, we were talking about all the people we knew dealing with depression/anxiety, and they pretty much all seemed to be white women... and she said typically that doesn't happen in the black community. We conjectured part of it is that in black culture (at least what she grew up with and lives in), people just express what they're feeling. 

I stayed over at her house a few times with her extended family, and it was very loud, direct, sometimes heated, but pretty much all out there... and here I felt like the sheepish demure white girl and had to make sure I had my spunk factor turned up to 11. 

Especially in the protestant middle class environment I grew up in, there were expectations for what women could say and not say in order to "be polite" and the whole culture is "cooler" rather than "hotter" ... so a lot of intense/bad emotions often never get out of one's system. I think that does result in dealing with some feelings of powerlessness, voicelessness, suppression of emotion/desire, etc. The way I acted at my friends house just to have a chance to not seem like a complete wallflower would have seemed abrasive within the context of my extended family. It was kind of crazy.

One experience doesn't a truth make, but there's my two cents. Black women say what's on their mind, white women often are taught to suppress it.


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## skycloud86 (Jul 15, 2009)

themartyparade said:


> Black people smoke weed.


Joking?

..........


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## Zeptometer (Dec 5, 2010)

smackitt said:


> I don't know, take it with a pinch of salt - they just seem to have written the most books, built most great cities and invented most of modern science, medicine and technology. That doesn't mean non-whites are any dumber - just that whites had to invent these things in order to survive in their harsh new environment.


Dude, I'm not tryin to hate on white people, I am white, but trust me, there is NOTHING special about it. If there's any reason we're diagnosed with more add or depression or whatever, its because white people have money, and doctors want that money, so they turn us into hypochondriacs. But we only have money because there have been more dishonorable white people with power and armies and money than there are craters on the moon, that stole from the poor and worse. That being said, there have been plenty of honorable white people, just like any other race.

As for the answer to your original question, why black people are happier and less anxious, I think it's more like white people are just sad and nervous. I think it has something to do with being spoiled. I'm somewhere between poor and middle class, so... I'm not nervous, or a hypochondriac, just sad.


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## Zeptometer (Dec 5, 2010)

@themartyparade ... everyone smokes weed.


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## TreeBob (Oct 11, 2008)

Sorry but this thread is toooooo borderline to even keep open. Instead of waiting for the usual crap to appear I will be proactive and close it.


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