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- I have been named the life of the party.

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I'm the light in the dark room.

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When I found it harder to be the light

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I saw my light doing this.

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Then when I started having
suicidal ideation thoughts

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I was like something ain't right.

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(soft music)

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- Mental health

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It's something we can't see.

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Yet one in every five
Americans will suffer

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from a mental illness at
some point in their lives.

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Not only can we not see it

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but there are still issues
around acknowledging it

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and asking for help.

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Because of that, only one
in three African-Americans

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actually ever seek help.

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And they are the least
likely population to

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receive treatment.

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But why is that?

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Well, one reason may be
that according to a report

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from the American
psychological association

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center for workforce studies, only 4%

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of therapists are African-American

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while black people account

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for about 14% of the total population.

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Actor, producer and
entrepreneur Taraji P. Henson

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knows firsthand what it's
like to battle mental illness.

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And so does her lifelong
friend, Tracy Jenkins.

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Together they're changing the conversation

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around black mental health

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with the hope of changing
the system that works

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against the historical impact
of black American trauma.

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(light, pulsing noises)

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Creating real systemic change
is a continuous journey

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that requires us to always
keep taking steps forward

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no matter how big or how small.

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(light, pulsing music)

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This

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is the work in progress.

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(fast piano music)

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- Founded in 2018 by Taraji P Henson

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and led by executive
director Tracy J Jenkins,

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the Boris Lawrence
Henson foundation aims to

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eradicate the stigma
around mental health issues

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in the African-American community.

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And with their show,
Peace of Mind With Taraji,

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the pair have many honest
and unfiltered conversations

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about everything from
PTSD to police brutality

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to male eating disorders

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and the challenges of
being black and trans.

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But why would a super
successful Hollywood star

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choose to focus so much

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of her energy on mental health issues?

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Well, as it turns out,

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it's an extremely personal subject for her

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in more ways than one.

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- Empathy is such an important part

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of this process, right?

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- Right

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- Meeting someone where
they are and, you know

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before being prescriptive.

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And I think the other part of it is

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because this is what I want to ask

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is about timing

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for your own personal
journey with mental health.

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You know, I think

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some of us wait until something's wrong.

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And then we like examined

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that something's wrong, really wrong.

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And then we make the move
to go make the phone call

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versus going, like,
let's just be preventive.

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You know, what can we do to prevent it

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in the first place or to reduce it?

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So what's the first step

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and when does that first step take place?

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- First step,

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Unfortunately, it got bad for me.

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And then I, you know, went
to get the help right.

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Now I have the help.

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I know that it's something that I live

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with now that in order
for me to stay ahead of it

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I have to do preventative things, right.

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Because now I know, but
before, I didn't know, I was

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like I said, I was in that
hole, looking at myself

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sink farther and farther
until I took it upon

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myself to do something.

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Now that I know better, I do better.

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So if I know I have a
stressful week coming up

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and I feel angst or
anxious call my therapist

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I need to talk, I need tools
I need, because I know now.

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Right. But that was a learning.

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That's something I had to get there.

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And again, like I say,
because I'm a celebrity

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I can't hold that to myself.

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How is that helping anyone else?

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Right. So, like I said, if
you have a story to tell

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if you're a survivor of anything,
you must tell your story,

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otherwise those that need to
survive, how will they know?

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Where's the blueprint?

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We gotta share.

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- Yeah. And I think also too

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to just simply accept that you're spending

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about 90% of your time

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dealing in a fight or flight mode

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- Mhmm

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which means who am I gonna flight today

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or how can I run as fast as
I can because I'm in danger.

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So if we just break

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off those small little
pieces, that's preventative

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it's breaking off small pieces
of time just to find safety.

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That's in a walk, that's in listening

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to something soothing,
relaxing, that's in prayer,

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that's in meditation,

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whatever you do that makes you feel safe.

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Start chipping away at that 90% of time.

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That way, when those things
come at you, you already

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in safety, you're not moving
from fight or flight mode.

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So that's one thing
that has been helping me

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is chipping away at that 90%,

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I'm like, I want my life back!

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- Yeah

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I don't want to spend
90% of my day worried

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and stressed and fighting

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because you know, how much

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of my life will I have really lived

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once I'm out of here.

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So that's what I would leave us with.