NEW ORLEANS — Jasmin Pierre has been feeling like something is wrong since she was 9 years old.
"I just thought maybe I was just sad a lot or something," said Pierre.
The first time she attempted suicide she was 18.
"They just basically sent me home the next day. And it took another suicide attempt for me to get diagnosed with depression," explains Pierre.
Pierre wishes that she had gotten help sooner, but she says she didn't know that she was dealing with mental health issues because it is not talked about enough in the black community.
"...Even from when I was a little girl, I was told you have to be strong all the time...that we have to pray all the time, or that mental illness is just for white people. I heard that so much growing up," said Pierre.
Dr. Rochelle Head-Dunham is the Executive director and medical director for Metropolitan Human Services District, and she says that race, culture, and economic status do play a role in who gets treatment for mental health issues.
"In the white community, for one thing, access has been there and the majority of people who provide the services are comfortable or a much more familiar thing for white people to take advantage of. And they are more likely to be able to afford it," says Pierre.
"For a larger portion of African-Americans, it's unfamiliar, unchartered territory and it's not endorsed historically," continues Dr. Head-Dunham.
But Jasmin has created something that might help: an app called The Safe Place.
It's a mental health app for minorities that provides self-care tips, leads people to resources that could help, and has an open group forum.
"We are under targeted so any application that specifically tries to reach our community- African Americans- is welcome," says Dr. Head-Dunham.
Jasmin hopes that by providing more information on mental illness she can help someone else get help sooner than she did.
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WWL-TV reporter Sheba Turk can be reached a sturk@wwltv.com;