![Group shot of storytellers at TMI Project's inaugural #blackstoriesmatter performance, which debuted on March 25, 2017 at the Pointe of Praise Church in Kingston, NY. Photo courtesy of TMI Project.](https://ibw21.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/why-black-stories-matter-they-build-empathy-and-heal-trauma-1.jpg)
By Isabelle Morrison — When she was growing up, Rachel Bailey was taught that only rich, self-indulgent White people suffered from mental health issues. Black people were supposed to be tougher. Although she remembers struggling with what was later diagnosed as bipolar disorder since she was 4 years old, it wasn’t until age 34 that she began to seek treatment, checking herself into a psychiatric ward after a…