Black Man’s Wealth
Interview with Joshua Anthony
recent years the rise in stress, depression, and anxiety, especially in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, caused us to learn more about mental health awareness. With all of these factors in mind, it is good to know that there are mental health care professionals ready to help where they can. One of those individuals is Joshua Anthony.
Anthony is an alumnus of Oakwood University, Meharry Medical College, and Northeastern University. He graduated from medical school in 2015 and is currently completing his residency in psychiatry at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. A biochemistry major at Oakwood, Anthony knew that he wanted to be a doctor but never imagined he’d be in psychiatry.
“I think that God put me in psychiatry,” he told us during a recent remote interview. “I actually planned to go into surgery when I went to medical school, but I guess through open and closed doors, God kind of put me straight into psychiatry. Psychiatry was probably at the bottom of my list—it was the field that I was definitely not going into.”
Already a feat to have matriculated successfully through college and graduate level coursework, higher education poses plenty of barriers to obstruct the path of young black men. Success lies at the confluence of emotional, family, environmental, and academic supports. With the numbers of black male applicants to medical school hovering at 1978 rates, the result is that among practicing, black psychiatrists, black males comprise only 1.7%. (psychiatryonline.org).
Add to the potential barriers, the stigma of mental illness, and the stigma around substance abuse, served to repel Anthony, initially. Now, however, he has grown to love his work, and managed to reach many lives. Anthony’s patients suffer with anxiety, marital conflict, stress from parenting, and substance abuse.
“I definitely think that’s God’s way of teaching me to have more grace and God’s way of giving me more understanding, especially as it relates to the sheer human experience…”
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Anthony has seen an increase in stress, alcoholism, and anxiety, but the pandemic has also brought some positives. Now more patients have access to the help they need because of telemedicine. Telemedicine allows doctors and patients to stay connected remotely, either by phone or the computer.
On social media, Anthony is the “Therapy Doc”. His social media pages help raise awareness on mental health, and his Instagram followers get an earful as he addresses work-life balance, and even the stress in his own life. He models balance through several extra-curricular activities such as painting, playing the saxophone, and spending time with family. He also uses his free time to stay involved in the community.
Anthony has grown in his career and has had a great impact on his community by helping people through his skills in mental health. He is a great inspiration especially to young African-Americans.
“I truly believe that God put me here to begin with, and I think God has given me a mission specifically to reach younger people both to engage in mental health services, but also to get involved providing mental health care services for others, taking that next step to actually take care of their mental health.”
