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Gabrielle Union is speaking out about how the events of 2020, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the “racial reckoning,” have impacted her well-being. “The combination of the pandemic and this racial reckoning, alongside being inundated with [images of] the brutalization of Black bodies, has sent my PTSD into overdrive,” the 47-year-old actress said in the …
Gabrielle Union is speaking out about how the events of 2020, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the “racial reckoning,” have impacted her well-being.
“The combination of the pandemic and this racial reckoning, alongside being inundated with [images of] the brutalization of Black bodies, has sent my PTSD into overdrive,” the 47-year-old actress said in the October issue of Women’s Health. “There’s just terror in my body.”
Union, who was diagnosed with PTSD at the age of 19 after being raped at gunpoint, also said she utilizes her “emotional fix-me toolkit” to help cope.
“I break out my emotional fix-me toolkit, and I try to run through all the situations. I call it my ‘what’s the likelihood of X happening?’ method,” Union explained. “If I’m fearful about going into a store because I’m anxious about being robbed, I’ll make myself feel better by going to one where there will be witnesses to cut down those chances. It’s been this way since ’92. It’s just something I do; second nature.”
Gabrielle Union in Women’s Health
Djeneba Aduayom
Gabrielle Union in Women’s Health
Djeneba Aduayom
In addition to focusing on herself both physically and emotionally, Union has also taken a stand against alleged toxicity in the wake of her controversial “America’s Got Talent” exit last fall.
In June, Union — the wife of former NBA star Dwyane Wade — filed a harassment complaint against “AGT” judge Simon Cowell and NBC, calling the network, “a snake pit of racial offenses.”
“All of these people came through the door. How do I create a larger movement to address all this trauma and all this harm? I can’t just swallow the information I now have,” Union said.
As for seeing a greater shift in racial equality, Union said she is “not going to factor in change I have yet to see.”
“For the most part, across all industries, you see the same power structure that existed before George Floyd. All of these initiatives that people are so excited about — if the people at the top haven’t changed, and they’re not interested in creating more space up here, how far are these people that we’re bringing in going?” Union said.
