Beyond the Celebrations: Tackling Mental Health in Hispanic Communities

Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15 – Oct. 15, is a time to celebrate the countless contributions of Hispanics to our society. However, beyond this pride, important issues like mental health within the Hispanic community are often overlooked. Even though the month of celebration is ending we must have a conversation on addressing these challenges.

The truth is shocking.

In Texas, 3,930 lives were lost to suicide in 2021 and 756,000 adults had thoughts of suicide. Approximately, 796,000 Texan adults have a serious mental illness and 43.4% reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, but 26.4% were unable to get counseling or therapy. Among Texan youth age 12-17, 314,000 have depression, and 64.7% of this age group did not receive any care. Similarly, the CDC Annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed that 22% of Texan students seriously considered attempting suicide in 2021. While it might seem common sense to agree that seeking and receiving care is essential, the reality of achieving it can be quite complicated for many.

In Texas, more than 40% of the residents are Hispanic. Some of the barriers they face include socioeconomic challenges, stigma within their own families and community, language barriers, limited resources, and possibly their immigration status.

For example, seventeen percent of U.S. Hispanics live in poverty, which augments their risk of mental illness. It also increases the challenge of paying for medical care, transportation and/or technology to access in-person or virtual care. But even for those with resources, one study showed that Latinos’ higher rates of shame and embarrassment about having a mental illness limited their help-seeking behaviors. At times, language barriers may complicate or even impede communication between the person who is seeking help and the provider. Immigration and legal status also play a role where many immigrants without status hesitate to seek professional services because of the fear of deportation.

The good news is where there are challenges there are also opportunities for growth and improvement at the individual and societal levels. We can start by practicing culturally and linguistically competent care. In practice, this means considering the cultural background and language of the individual seeking help.

We can also combat stigma by normalizing the seeking of professional help and educating others by sharing resources and having open, empathetic, and caring conversations. We can increase community education by raising awareness through public talks, workshops, outreach programs, and partnering with trusted community leaders and organizations for greater reach. We can advocate for legislative actions in favor of telehealth and virtual platforms while continuing to promote the use of distance services that provide more flexible and accessible care.

We can honor the culture’s curative effect: familismo promotes strong family bonds and a support system, and personalismo fosters personal relationships and community connections. These and similar values may serve as protective factors.

We can seek a basic understanding of the 5 steps to help: 1) assessing for risk, 2) providing company, 3) reducing access to lethal means, 4) helping them get connected to the appropriate services, and 5) staying connected by following up.

Hispanics have proven to be resilient with their ability to bounce back despite the difficulties. Fortunately, the topic of mental health has been taking more importance in the last few years. Several improvements to access mental health services and eliminate disparities exist now that did not in the past, but we must acknowledge that the need is significant and there is still much more that should be done. Thus, the efforts must be sustained to continue honoring our heritage not just by celebrating our past but also by safeguarding our future.

If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988, or chat https://988lifeline.org. For Spanish services, text AYUDA at 988 or on WhatsApp at 442-AYUDAME.

(*) Maria Alayza is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), and National Certified Counselor (NCC). She regularly speaks at national conferences and appears on Univision, Telemundo, and several other media outlets. She holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of Vermont, a Master’s in Counseling from Barry University, and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Counseling at Florida Atlantic University.

The texts published in this section are the authors’ sole responsibility, and La Opinión assumes no responsibility for them.