I always tell my girls that it is important to let go of all those bad feelings inside… anger, sadness, guilt… in order for them to feel better and be able to let in all the goodness. For me it is important to take care of my daughters’ mental health and teach them to handle their emotions. I want them to have the correct information and the necessary tools. Therefore I keep the lines of communication open because I do not want this topic to be taboo or discarded in our family.
The Topic of Mental Health in Latino Families
The truth is that the topic of mental health within Latino families can be a very sensitive one, due to the fact that it is linked to sociocultural stigmas. Personally I never talked about this topic with my family and I didn’t learn about it until I went to college. Just like in my family, for many others the topic of mental health is null since the lack of information, aside from disinformation, makes it seen negatively. For example in my youth I used to hear the adults talk about stress as a simple worry or day that anxiety was nervousness. Also I have heard phrases such as “I’ll take away depression with a chancletazo” (slipper spanking) and worst yet a psychologist was only for crazy people. With these thoughts we can realize that the Latino culture associates these conditions with weakness or disability, aside from being afraid or embarrassed to be label as loony.
The Statistics Speak by Themselves
If we focus only on the numbers it is impressive to learn that the Latino youth in the United States is at major risk to suffer from any mental illness. In a 2018 report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHA) shows that a little bit over 56% of young people between the ages of 18 and 25 years of age with a serious mental illness did NOT receive any treatment. Now if we talk about depressive episodes it is alarming that in 2018 there were 882K cases of teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17, up from 795K cases the previous year. That was an increase of 15.1%.¹ Even worst it is known that many suicides are a cause of mental problems, hence in 2017 and 2018 the second leading cause of deaths among Latinos between the ages of 15 and 34 was suicide. ²
What can we do?
Let’s start by accepting that mental health is also important and it needs to be taken care of. It’s time to change the chip. It is time to learn, unlearn and relearn about this topic that is affecting all of us but even more our Latino youth. Let’s teach them to recognize the symptoms of these ailments, let’s give them the necessary tools to know how to deal with them, but even more importantly let’s empower them so that they are not afraid to raise their voice and reach for help.
¹SAMHSA, 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Hispanics, latino or Spanish Origin or Descent
