Black mothers signal health toll of gun violence

+ Fed-induced credit crunch could hit small businesses US Edition - Today's top story: Black mothers trapped in unsafe neighborhoods signal the stressful health toll of gun violence in the U.S. [View in browser]( US Edition | 3 May 2023 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Top headlines - [How to avoid harmful algae blooms swimming this summer]( - [Lessons from Iraq War in Ukraine foreign policy]( - [Predators target children’s webcams]( Lead story The specter of gun violence in America is one that haunts everyday spaces: schools and supermarkets, night clubs and nail salons, concerts and churches, and hospitals and homes. Black mothers living in segregated communities know all too well the [physical and mental toll the threat of gun violence]( can take. Public policy scholar Loren Henderson of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and sociologist Ruby Mendenhall of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign interviewed and collected blood samples from single Black mothers living in the South Side of Chicago. Mothers who felt trapped in unsafe neighborhoods not only had elevated symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, but also elevated stress hormone levels. They describe how persistent stress from structural violence can “get under the skin” and put Black mothers and their families at increased risk of chronic disease – experiences that hold lessons for other Americans. “The trauma of gun violence and systemic racism isn’t simply a Black mother’s story,” they write. “It’s an American story.” [[Sign up here to our topic-specific weekly emails.](] Vivian Lam Associate Health and Biomedicine Editor The stress of experiencing high levels of community violence harms entire families. skynesher/E+ via Getty Images [Black mothers trapped in unsafe neighborhoods signal the stressful health toll of gun violence in the U.S.]( Loren Henderson, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Ruby Mendenhall, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chronic stress from living with systemic racism and gun violence can lead to increased symptoms of PTSD and depression as well as elevated cortisol levels. 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