"You feel you have to be made of steel": The strong Black woman, health, and well-being in Nova Scotia.

The "strong Black woman" construct has been well-documented in the United States as both an aspirational icon and a constricting burden for African-heritage women. It has not been examined among African-Canadians. Drawing on qualitative interviews and standardized measures with 50 African-heritage women in Eastern Canada, our analysis reveals their perceptions of the construct as both strongly endorsed as a source of cultural pride, yet also acknowledged to take a terrible toll on health and well-being.

Depression: the 'invisible grey fog' influencing the midlife health of African Canadian women.

Depression is a topic that is often avoided in discussions among Black women for a myriad of reasons. The purpose of this study was to investigate the midlife health of Black women living in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. This paper will present one of the key findings of this research; midlife depression.