CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, ILL (WCIA)– Some people go to the barbershop or beauty salon to get their hair done and then leave. For the Black community, it can be a different process.
“Look for them to be that guide and that guiding light in our life. You know what I’m saying?” said customer Jeremy Bailey Jr.
Bailey Jr. gets his haircut at least twice a month at Beard Culture in Urbana.
“We want them to make positive decisions, to be able to have positive advice for us when we come in to struggle,” said Bailey Jr.
Bailey added that struggle isn’t something that’s easily talked about. And not being able to express that can sometimes have an impact on your mental health, which the CDC says is one of the most common health conditions in the United States.
Salon owner Laneshia Sargent-Leshoure says they’re taught to keep emotions hidden.
“It was more so, I’m looking sad or down or depressed, but I’m not going to talk about it,” Sargent-Leshoure said. “So, it was hidden, very secret.”
A study done by McLean hospital says 25 percent of Black people seek mental health treatment when needed, compared to 40 percent of their white counterparts.
But — in their own way — barbers and stylist are helping to close the gap.
“Barbers say how school going. How your mom and them doing? How life going. Are you about to graduate? What school you going to?” said barber London Robinson.
Those questions are small but powerful. The National Institute of Mental Health says staying connected plays a key role in caring for your mental health.
And going to see your barber or sitting down in that salon chair is a special way to get it done.
“You acting up in school because you don’t have a hair cut. You acting up because your clothes not new,” Robinson said. “I can’t save everything, but I can save the kids on their haircuts.”
The National Institute of Mental Health says self care is not a cure, but finding what coping techniques work for you can help.