In this episode of Mind You with DK, we dive into what it really means to do the work in therapy—especially for Black men navigating mental health in a world that often misunderstands them.

When Gucci Mane revealed he’s living with schizoaffective disorder, it sparked a conversation far beyond celebrity headlines — one about stigma, representation, and healing in the Black community. For clarity, schizoaffective disorder is a condition where someone experiences symptoms of schizophrenia along with major mood episodes like depression or mania. Schizophrenia itself is a chronic brain-based disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and experiences reality, often involving hallucinations, delusions, or disorganized thinking.

So, let's unpack how culture, masculinity, and silence intersect with mental health care — and why telling the truth about our minds can be revolutionary.

Because mind you… healing starts when we stop hiding from the work.

*****Quick clarification: In this episode, I talk about depression, mania, and psychotic symptoms. While depression and self-medicating with alcohol can increase the risk of psychiatric episodes, schizoaffective disorder does not “turn into” schizophrenia. They’re related but separate conditions — schizoaffective disorder includes symptoms of schizophrenia along with major mood episodes like depression or mania, while schizophrenia affects thinking and perception more globally. The comparison in the episode was meant to highlight how untreated symptoms can worsen over time, not a literal clinical progression.*****