The mind can be a mystery, something unique and different in every person. However, there is a uniting factor that returns our minds to the same plane of existence as any other part of our bodies: our minds can suffer from illnesses and sometimes need help and treatment. Mental health is a serious topic, one that affects millions of people around the world. In fact, in the United States alone, one in five adults lives with a mental illness, or about 53 million people in 2020 (NIH, 2022). With the sheer amount of people affected by a variety of mental disorders, one might expect that these disorders are a heavily discussed topic, one that everyone is working to tackle and solve. However, mental health is often pushed to the side, ignored and unmentioned. People with mental health disorders are faced with great stigmas, both societal and institutional. These stigmas prevent many people from seeking help for their conditions or from talking about their condition with others. However, the stigma against mental health has taken an especially strong hold on one specific community: the Latinx community in the United States.
In the Latinx community, intense stigma against mental health disorders is prevalent. Often, these disorders are not acknowledged. It is surprisingly common for people to simply not speak of these diseases outside of the home. As noted on the website for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, “Many in the Latinx community are familiar with the phrase ‘la ropia sucia se lava en casa’ (similar to ‘don’t air your dirty laundry in public’). Some people do not seek treatment . . . out of fear . . . or bringing shame or unwanted attention to their families” (NAMI, 2022). Family is very important in Latinx communities, and the appearance of a strong, united family can be imperative. A mental health diagnosis would stand in stark disagreement to this desired image. This is due to a perception of where mental health issues stem from. Mental health issues can have many different causes – genetics, environment, trauma, stress, or chemical/hormonal imbalance, to name a few (MHA, 2020). There is great fear in the Latinx community that these causes will be attributed back to the family and home. For example, genetics might come back to mark the family as one with faulty genes which will pass this undesired burden on from generation to generation. Environment, trauma, stress may be attributed to a hostile home environment, poor upbringing, or faulty moral teachings. For many families, it is preferable to deal with the issues alone or to pretend that they do not exist rather than expose the greater family to shame or judgement from the greater public.
Stigma around mental health issues can often present itself in different ways in Latinx communities. For example, Dr. Diana Lorenzo from Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Behavioral Health and leader of the Cleveland Clinic’s Hispanic Clinic details, “ . . . Severe mental illnesses are especially stigmatizing – labeled ‘locura’ (Spanish for “craziness”) by many Latinos. More common disorders, such as depression and anxiety, are regarded as merely ‘nervios’ (“nervousness”) and are perceived as short-term, easier to treat, and not requiring medication” (Cleveland Clinic, 2017). These two distinctions are very common in Latinx communities. Smaller, more commonplace disorders are chalked up to a nervous or anxious personality, something that can be conquered with work and a change in attitude. More obvious or severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, are labeled as general craziness, and are often reasons for people to be thought of as dangerous as they are perceived as being incapable of controlling themselves or, by extent, of ever being a functioning member of society. In a separate category between these two is a more ambiguous category one might label “el raro” (“the weird one”). Every Latinx family, it seems, has a story of at least one person they know who is “un poco rarito” (“a little bit weird”). This person is often someone who exhibits symptoms of a mental disorder, and as such cannot be said to just suffer from “nervios”, but not to such a severe extent as to be labeled as someone suffering from “locura”.
Often these are the only categories that people can be sorted into: “normal”, “nervioso” (“nervous”), “rarito” (“weird”), or “loco” (“crazy”). There is always a huge push to categorize people as “normal”. This can be seen in the ways that symptoms can be attributed to other things that might be more manageable. An example of this can be that common diseases are characterized as an attack of “nervios”, which is something that can typically be breathed through and overcome if worked at. This is something that Dr. Lorenzo has also seen in her time at the Cleveland Clinic. She remarks the importance of mental health physicians working in conjunction with primary care physicians (PCP), since Latinxs are “twice as likely to consult a PCP rather than a mental health provider” (Cleveland Clinic, 2017). Dr. Lorenzo says, “Latinos typically won’t claim they’ve had a panic attack . . . but they will report the somatic symptoms, like chest pain and shortness of breath” (Cleveland Clinic, 2017). This phenomenon speaks back to the treatment of mental health and the stigma that surrounds it. For many Latinxs, it is preferable to have some sort of physical ailment because these can then be ascribed a tangible cause and can be treated and cured, whereas mental illnesses may take years – or even a lifetime to work through.
It is considered better to have something that can be easily explained to the public and fixed. That is why we should be more open and candid about mental health. As previously mentioned, in the US alone, one in five adults lives with a mental illness (NIH, 2022). This means that oftentimes, there are people in your communities or perhaps even your family that are struggling with a mental illness. These struggles and symptoms may be exacerbated as the person feels isolated and is forced to deal with their struggle by themselves. We can fix that by being more open about our issues. It might not be a particularly easy or pleasant conversation to have with someone, but if we can normalize not being okay and working through mental illnesses as we would any other illness of the body, we can make a difference. Dr. Lorenzo highlights community education and a willingness to discuss mental health as key steps to destigmatizing mental health illnesses: “Explaining the biological underpinnings of mental health disorders is enlightening to many Latinos . . . When they understand that chemicals in the brain play a primary role, they view the diseases differently” (Cleveland Clinic, 2017).
About the Author
Samantha Herrera is a senior at Harvard College concentrating in Neuroscience.
References
Cleveland Clinic. (2017, November 21). Overcoming Mental Health Stigma in the Latino Community. Consult QD. https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/overcoming-mental-health-stigma-in-the-latino-community/
MHA. (2020). What causes mental illness? MHA Screening. https://screening.mhanational.org/content/what-causes-mental-illness/
NAMI. (2022). Hispanic/Latinx. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). https://www.nami.org/Your-Journey/Identity-and-Cultural-Dimensions/Hispanic-Latinx
NIMH. (2022). Mental Illness. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness
In the Latinx community, intense stigma against mental health disorders is prevalent. Often, these disorders are not acknowledged. It is surprisingly common for people to simply not speak of these diseases outside of the home. As noted on the website for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, “Many in the Latinx community are familiar with the phrase ‘la ropia sucia se lava en casa’ (similar to ‘don’t air your dirty laundry in public’). Some people do not seek treatment . . . out of fear . . . or bringing shame or unwanted attention to their families” (NAMI, 2022). Family is very important in Latinx communities, and the appearance of a strong, united family can be imperative. A mental health diagnosis would stand in stark disagreement to this desired image. This is due to a perception of where mental health issues stem from. Mental health issues can have many different causes – genetics, environment, trauma, stress, or chemical/hormonal imbalance, to name a few (MHA, 2020). There is great fear in the Latinx community that these causes will be attributed back to the family and home. For example, genetics might come back to mark the family as one with faulty genes which will pass this undesired burden on from generation to generation. Environment, trauma, stress may be attributed to a hostile home environment, poor upbringing, or faulty moral teachings. For many families, it is preferable to deal with the issues alone or to pretend that they do not exist rather than expose the greater family to shame or judgement from the greater public.
Stigma around mental health issues can often present itself in different ways in Latinx communities. For example, Dr. Diana Lorenzo from Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Behavioral Health and leader of the Cleveland Clinic’s Hispanic Clinic details, “ . . . Severe mental illnesses are especially stigmatizing – labeled ‘locura’ (Spanish for “craziness”) by many Latinos. More common disorders, such as depression and anxiety, are regarded as merely ‘nervios’ (“nervousness”) and are perceived as short-term, easier to treat, and not requiring medication” (Cleveland Clinic, 2017). These two distinctions are very common in Latinx communities. Smaller, more commonplace disorders are chalked up to a nervous or anxious personality, something that can be conquered with work and a change in attitude. More obvious or severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, are labeled as general craziness, and are often reasons for people to be thought of as dangerous as they are perceived as being incapable of controlling themselves or, by extent, of ever being a functioning member of society. In a separate category between these two is a more ambiguous category one might label “el raro” (“the weird one”). Every Latinx family, it seems, has a story of at least one person they know who is “un poco rarito” (“a little bit weird”). This person is often someone who exhibits symptoms of a mental disorder, and as such cannot be said to just suffer from “nervios”, but not to such a severe extent as to be labeled as someone suffering from “locura”.
Often these are the only categories that people can be sorted into: “normal”, “nervioso” (“nervous”), “rarito” (“weird”), or “loco” (“crazy”). There is always a huge push to categorize people as “normal”. This can be seen in the ways that symptoms can be attributed to other things that might be more manageable. An example of this can be that common diseases are characterized as an attack of “nervios”, which is something that can typically be breathed through and overcome if worked at. This is something that Dr. Lorenzo has also seen in her time at the Cleveland Clinic. She remarks the importance of mental health physicians working in conjunction with primary care physicians (PCP), since Latinxs are “twice as likely to consult a PCP rather than a mental health provider” (Cleveland Clinic, 2017). Dr. Lorenzo says, “Latinos typically won’t claim they’ve had a panic attack . . . but they will report the somatic symptoms, like chest pain and shortness of breath” (Cleveland Clinic, 2017). This phenomenon speaks back to the treatment of mental health and the stigma that surrounds it. For many Latinxs, it is preferable to have some sort of physical ailment because these can then be ascribed a tangible cause and can be treated and cured, whereas mental illnesses may take years – or even a lifetime to work through.
It is considered better to have something that can be easily explained to the public and fixed. That is why we should be more open and candid about mental health. As previously mentioned, in the US alone, one in five adults lives with a mental illness (NIH, 2022). This means that oftentimes, there are people in your communities or perhaps even your family that are struggling with a mental illness. These struggles and symptoms may be exacerbated as the person feels isolated and is forced to deal with their struggle by themselves. We can fix that by being more open about our issues. It might not be a particularly easy or pleasant conversation to have with someone, but if we can normalize not being okay and working through mental illnesses as we would any other illness of the body, we can make a difference. Dr. Lorenzo highlights community education and a willingness to discuss mental health as key steps to destigmatizing mental health illnesses: “Explaining the biological underpinnings of mental health disorders is enlightening to many Latinos . . . When they understand that chemicals in the brain play a primary role, they view the diseases differently” (Cleveland Clinic, 2017).
About the Author
Samantha Herrera is a senior at Harvard College concentrating in Neuroscience.
References
Cleveland Clinic. (2017, November 21). Overcoming Mental Health Stigma in the Latino Community. Consult QD. https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/overcoming-mental-health-stigma-in-the-latino-community/
MHA. (2020). What causes mental illness? MHA Screening. https://screening.mhanational.org/content/what-causes-mental-illness/
NAMI. (2022). Hispanic/Latinx. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). https://www.nami.org/Your-Journey/Identity-and-Cultural-Dimensions/Hispanic-Latinx
NIMH. (2022). Mental Illness. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness
