Resources / Minority Mental Health / The Mental Health Toll of Microaggressions and What You Can Do About It
5 min read
Last updated 6/20/25
By: Kelsey Cottingham, MSW, LMSW
Clinical Reviewer: Jill Donelan, PsyD
The Mental Health Toll of Microaggressions—and What You Can Do About It
Microaggressions may seem small, but their cumulative effects on mental health are real. Learn how microaggressions show up, why they hurt, and how to protect your well-being with practical strategies and support.
Microaggressions aren’t harmless. Here’s why.
Microaggressions—the everyday slights, snubs, or insults often directed at people from marginalized groups—wear down mental health, self-esteem, and a sense of safety.
Maybe someone assumed your partner is a different gender. Maybe a coworker complimented your English even though you were born in the U.S. Or maybe you’ve been mistaken for someone in a less senior role—again. If you’ve ever walked away wondering, Did that just happen? you’re not alone.
This guide unpacks what microaggressions are, how they affect mental health, and what you can do to protect your peace. You’ll find language to describe your experience, strategies for responding, and ways to connect with a therapist who truly “gets” you — because care should honor your identity and lived experience.
What are microaggressions?
If you’ve been struggling to name what’s happening, you’re not alone. These moments are often dismissed — but they still hit hard.
Microaggressions are subtle verbal, nonverbal, or environmental signals—intentional or not—that communicate negative messages based on someone’s identity. They show up in conversations, policies, and care settings. Racial microaggressions are one common and harmful type, often directed at people of color in ways that reinforce stereotypes or imply exclusion.
Microaggressions differ from overt discrimination because they’re often ambiguous. But that doesn’t make these experiences less hurtful. Many experts break them down into three types of microaggressions:
- Microassaults: Deliberate discriminatory actions, like slurs or exclusion.
- Microinsults: Subtle snubs that demean someone’s identity — like expressing surprise at how “articulate” a Black colleague is.
- Microinvalidations: Comments that dismiss someone’s lived experience, like “I don’t see color.”
While anyone can experience forms of microaggressions, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, immigrants, and religious minorities are often targeted — and impact compounds when these identities intersect.
Examples of microaggressions in everyday life
- Asking, “Where are you really from?”
- Mistaking a female doctor for a nurse
- Joking that a same-gender couple “seems like roommates”
- Touching a Black person’s hair without permission
- Saying, “You don’t look disabled”
These moments may seem minor to others, but they can leave you feeling invisible, othered, or unsafe — especially when they happen repeatedly.
The mental health impact of microaggressions
If you’ve felt exhausted, on edge, or emotionally shut down after interactions like these, you’re not overreacting—your body responding to repeated stress.
Microaggressions build up over time, a phenomenon some researchers describe as “death by a thousand cuts.” The result? Chronic stress that can seriously affect your mental and physical health.
Emotional and psychological effects of microaggressions
- Increased anxiety, depression, and self-doubt
- Risk of PTSD-like symptoms and identity-based trauma
- Hypervigilance—feeling tense and alert—in social or professional settings
- Isolation and emotional exhaustion
Physical health consequences
Chronic exposure to identity-based stress doesn’t just affect your emotions — it impacts your body, too. Studies link it to elevated blood pressure, disrupted sleep, digestive issues, and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease¹.
These aren’t isolated responses to one-off incidents. Microaggressions often send deeper messages: who belongs, who’s visible, and who’s expected to shrink in order to be accepted. When those messages build up over time, they can weigh heavily on your mental and physical well-being.
For people with intersecting marginalized identities — such as a disabled Latinx transgender person with a disability or a Muslim Black woman — the effects can be even more intense. Layered microaggressions reinforce multiple forms of exclusion, which can heighten emotional distress and contribute to identity-based trauma.
Unfortunately, many mental health systems still approach identity in silos, focusing on race or gender or disability, instead of recognizing how those aspects interact. That gap can leave people feeling misunderstood or unsupported, even in therapy. Finding a provider who affirms your full identity can make all the difference.²
If you’re struggling with the mental and physical toll of racialized stress, our guide to coping with racial trauma offers strategies to help you process, heal, and protect your peace.
How to validate, respond to, and find support after microaggressions
When people dismiss your experience or tell you to “let it go,” it’s easy to start second-guessing yourself. So let’s be clear: you’re allowed to name harm, and you don’t need anyone else’s permission to feel your truth.
Validate your own experience
Try these self-validation prompts:
- “It’s not in my head. My experience is real.”
- “I’m allowed to name harm even if others dismiss it.”
- “Protecting my peace is more important than making others comfortable.”
Other emotional first aid strategies to deal with microaggressions:
- Journaling your emotions after difficult interactions
- Practicing mindful breathing to regulate your nervous system
- Visualizing safe, affirming people and spaces
- Reminding yourself that microaggressions reflect others’ biases, not your worth
Respond when it’s psychologically safe
There’s no one “right” way to respond. What matters most is your safety, capacity, and context. You get to choose what feels right in the moment, or after.
In-the-moment (best for lower-risk situations)
- “I know you didn’t mean harm, but that comment was hurtful.”
- “Just so you know, saying X can come across as Y.”
Delayed response (higher-risk or power imbalance)
- “I’ve been reflecting on something that came up in our last meeting…”
- “When people hear comments like that, it can feel invalidating.”
Choosing not to respond
Sometimes, the safest response is no response at all — and that’s valid. It takes energy to engage, and you’re allowed to protect your peace first. Those who are harmed by microaggressions are not responsible for helping others recognize or change their problematic behavior.
Self-advocacy vs. safety: Trusting your judgment
Every setting carries different risks. Sometimes, speaking up is empowering. Other times, protecting your energy is the best choice. If you do want to say something, here are some ways to start the conversation:
- To a boss: “I wanted to circle back to a comment you made earlier — it came across as hurtful.”
- To a peer: “Hey, just a heads-up, that phrase can be harmful because…”
- To a therapist: “I’m wondering about your approach to clients with identities like mine.”
If you're looking for a therapist who understands these dynamics, check out Psych Hub’s care navigation filters to find providers trained in culturally competent care.
Find outside support
It’s normal to feel hurt, confused, or emotionally drained after experiencing microaggressions — especially when they happen again and again. Over time, you might even start to question whether your reactions are valid.
Let’s be clear: you’re not imagining it, and you don’t have to carry it alone. You deserve rest, care, and spaces where your full identity is seen and respected.
Here are a few ways to find support that honors who you are:
Community meet-ups: Support groups and healing circles can offer connection, validation, and shared understanding.
Support from family and friends: Leaning on loved ones can be powerful — but not everyone knows how to show up, especially when mental health feels like a taboo topic. This guide can help you navigate those conversations.
Professional expertise: Culturally competent, trauma-informed therapists are trained to recognize the impact of racism, bias, and identity-based stress. They don’t just offer coping strategies — they offer validation, safety, and perspective.
Find a therapist who gets you
Psych Hub gives providers the option to share their identities, lived experiences, and specialties — making it easier for you to find someone who resonates with your background and needs.
Get started by exploring these filtered lists:
By provider identity:
- BIPOC therapists
- Black therapists
- Hispanic & Latinx therapists
- Pacific Islander therapists
- Asian & Asian-American therapists
- Indigenous American therapists
- LGBTQ+ therapists
- Non-Binary therapists
By specialty or approach:
- Cultural competence
- Trauma-Informed
- Gender-affirming
- Multicultural & diversity-informed
- Therapists for the mental health effects of racism
By language access:
Psych Hub lets you filter by more than 50 languages, so whether you're seeking a Spanish-speaking therapist or another language, you can find someone you can communicate with comfortably.
Make sure it’s a good fit
Looking for guidance on what to ask or how to vet a provider? Try our Inclusive Therapist Checklist: Red Flags & Green Lights to Look For and conversation starter, Not Sure if Your Therapist is the Right Fit? Start with These Questions.
How Psych Hub helps you find your people
Microaggressions aren’t small. Their emotional weight is real, and you don’t have to carry it alone.
You shouldn’t have to educate your therapist on why a comment was harmful or how racism shows up at work. Dealing with culturally insensitive people is hard enough — therapy shouldn’t be one more place you feel misunderstood.
You don’t have to start from scratch. Psych Hub gives you tools to find a therapist who truly gets it:
- Take the well-being assessment for personalized provider matches
- Use filters to search by race, language, gender identity, specialty, and more
- Choose virtual or in-person appointments that work with your schedule and preferences
Find a provider who understands you. Explore potential providers and match with someone who fits your needs.
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Related Resources
Healing from racial trauma starts with care that honors your identity. Discover ways to process pain, build support systems, and find trauma-informed therapists who truly understand.
Opening up about mental health can feel overwhelming, especially when stigma stands in the way. Learn how to start the conversation and what to say for healing conversations across personalities and generations.
Looking for mental health care that truly understands you? Learn how culturally competent therapy can help you find a provider who sees your full identity, values, and lived experience.
Learn how to find and choose the right therapist for you by exploring therapy types, costs, credentials, and personal fit to support your mental health goals.
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