Mental health remains a stigma in society, and especially in cultures where it is often pushed to the side or frowned upon.
According to census data, there is “an increase in poor mental health” within the Hispanic community. Because of that organizations and City leaders introduced a toolkit to break that barrier.
“Pathways to Mental Health” is an interactive, bilingual packet launched in partnership with NAMI Central Texas and the Community Advancement Network (CAN) to provide information and resources to everyone, especially the Latino community.
Austin City Councilmember Vanessa Fuentes, who also chairs CAN, understands all too well how mental health is considered a cultural taboo.
“As a Latina, certainly, you know, growing up, mental health was definitely not talked about,” Fuentes said. “It was certainly like, ‘Oh, it’s all in your head. It’s not a real thing. Toughen up.’ What we’re doing is saying to our Latino community in particular is like, no, it’s ok for us to talk about it.”
The toolkit asks questions and explains mental health. It also provides resources and information surrounding the stigma behind it in several communities. Fuentes hopes people can have conversations and normalize the topic by doing so with family, friends and even colleagues.
Read more at KVUE.com.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.