Mike Caesar first knew he had a problem when he was 9 years old. He kept getting into trouble at school, so his mother took him to see a counselor. It took 10 years and a series of medications that didn't help until the answer was finally discovered: In 2006, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
When Caesar was first seeking treatment in elementary school, his counselor gave him a journal and instructed him to write down his feelings. He began writing short stories and poetry and once he heard Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt, he knew writing songs and rapping were for him. Now he's made it his mission to use music to help raise awareness about mental illness, particularly in the African American community where social stigmas remain prevalent for such diagnoses.
Growing up as an African American male in the small town of Waynesboro, Mississippi, Caesar — whose birth name is Michael Taylor — was almost guaranteed a life as an underdog. To make matters worse, Caesar began exhibiting signs of emotional issues at an early age. "Back then they didn't know what bipolar or mental health issues were. So, if you were a kid, you just had tantrums — you had anger issues or behavioral problems. There was no public acknowledgment, just excuses made for my behavior," he explains.
Caesar points out that, as a community, most African Americans are behind from the get go, making success that much more of a struggle. He feels that the expectation is for men to be the stereotypically strong, proud providers. Complaining is not an option, which makes people even less likely to seek treatment. "Within the black community, we already have so many obstacles to overcome that to have to admit that you are physically defective as a human being is hard, period," he says. "These social stigmas imply that there is already so much wrong with us. So you're just crazy or hyper or special and you get treated differently."
[For more of this story, written by Molly Mollotova, go to http://www.dallasobserver.com/...s-with-music-7393355]
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