In the Latino community when it comes to speaking up in regards to mental health, judgment and disapproval are expected. Combating a culture’s own stigma towards those with mental illness is a conflict one too many Latinos living with mental health issues are dealing with.
Janine Barrett, a psychologist who works out of Waukegan, Illinois, has over 25 years of experience in the field. Her years spent working with individuals in cognitive behavioral therapy, as well as within family therapy has, for Barrett, proven the stigma within Latino communities in regards to mental illness.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, adolescent Latinas have been reported to have the highest rates of mental illnesses, but are less likely to receive professional assistance. This is due to the stigma surrounding mental health within the Latino community in the United States
“I think that it’s every parent’s or family member’s fear when a loved one has mental health issues – they assume they will receive blame as a source of the problem,” Barrett said.
And, this is most apparent with Latino families. Due to cultural, societal, and family influence the way mental health is regarded within this demographic is unparalleled to the common measures many Americans handle the issue of mental health.
“Psychology as a legitimate medical service is fairly recent,” she said. “Skeptics still questions its benefits and uses, and even first time patients may be really hesitant to believe they made the right choice in seeking out treatment.”
Barrett attributes a great portion of that hesitation to the stereotype of therapists as “new age” or “quacks.” It is the portrayal of therapy sessions as nothing but dream interpretations and couch lie downs making it tougher for people to grasp the good that can come from speaking to a licensed professional. Not experiencing an appointment with a psychologist also lends itself to fear. Fear that what is said may reveal things that are hard to hear, especially for family members.
“The association of crazy will always work against those that are trying to get help, so the community has to change the connotation from shame to strength,” Barrett said.
This ideology runs strong within Latino culture shaping the connotation surrounding mental health. Negative cultural connotation reduces a patient’s chances of even accessing resources or opportunities, which could offer aid, because it is discouraged by family members themselves. In a traditional Latino household, a family member expressing concern over their mental state or emotions is viewed as something that can be fixed by prayer or attending mass, or even spending time with family members.
“We are taught that these are private issues and they are issues that should be dealt within the family, and one doesn’t go to the doctor to deal with issues of mental health,” said Lourdes Torres, a professor of Latin American and Latino studies at DePaul University.
Nicole Tijerina, a 24-year-old, Mexican, grad student at Benedictine, was diagnosed with clinical depression and an addiction to alcohol in 2011. The problem began years before, but shame of disappointing her family kept her problems a secret.
“There was definitely hesitation before I told my parents,” Tijerina said, “There was not a lot of knowledge about mental health, so it wasn’t like I would be looked at like a failure, but it wasn’t something that was a real problem.”
After first admitting her problems, conflict and concern did arise in the household. Tijerina’s father found his daughter to first be at fault, at first misunderstanding the severity of her symptoms, hoping his daughter would simply “snap out of it,” but if she could not make herself feel better, than the power of prayer would surely do the trick.
“There was never any talk about going to see a counselor or going on medicine, it was more like ‘well you need to pray about it,’” she said.
Religion, according to Barrett, is a common argument against the use of psychology and psychiatry to treat mental health problems. She says the debate of science versus religion is not one that has slown down as much as mainstream culture may belief, and the belief that if faith in God is strong enough, everything will work out as He planned, is still a belief holding many people back from seeking help.
“Why trust a psychologist when you already have a faith-based system you believe in,” Tijerina asked. “God handles problems. He gives and He takes, so if you’re feeling down or anxious or struggling with substance abuse or self harm, right now He is taking from your happiness to show you a better way.”
Today, things within her family have improved as Tijerina works on stabilizing her health, and credits her father for growing to accept her problems, as well as those of her younger sister who also struggles with depression, even if he, and the family as a whole, still feel the guilt of wondering how this could have happened.
“It is hard because my parents aren’t over it yet, but if anything my sister and I just try to reassure them that these are our demons and we have to face them our own way,” she said.
Tijerina’s family dynamic is not uncommon. Barrett says the product of mental illness is often times guilt, and the guilt family, specifically parents feel, can keep people from receiving the help they need as the familial identity can be threatened by the admittance of mental health issues and the genetic factors involved. Barrett believes it is the family’s denial that hinders most from coming forward and opening up about their struggles.
“I definitely have experienced stigma when it comes to normalizing and talking about my mental health,” said Amber Colon Nunez, a junior at DePaul who has been diagnosed with anxiety. “I get it more so from my grandparents than my parents. They’re a lot more old fashioned and they are from Puerto Rico. They necessarily don’t see it as a problem, they see it as a lot more I could be concerned with.”
The strong sense of negative cultural connotation reduces patients opportunities to access professional resources and normalizes mental health diseases within Latinos in the United States. Low self-esteem and even isolation due to societal discrimination is a result for Latino individuals who are experiencing mental illnesses since they are chastised by their own family. The role of language has a strong influence on why these illnesses are not considered serious.
Words such as “loco” meaning crazy, “nervious” meaning nervous and “susto” meaning scared are regularly used by Latino individuals to describe their emotions, which can mask severe disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder, paranoia or anxiety. Rather than seeking a psychological help, traditional religious acts are viewed as the solutions to overcome these feelings. But Torres has a message for any Latinos who are trying, as Barrett described, to change the connotation from “shame to strength.”
“If you know there are other resources out there, don’t listen to your family, don’t listen to your parents,” Torres said. “There are ways you can seek help without involving your family, sometimes you can’t rely on your family, sometimes you have to go find help in other places and that is okay.”
For more information, visit the following sites:
CNN.com, Mental Health America, NAMI, and The Huffington Post
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