Data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows white people have the highest rate of suicide in America, but many minorities are expressing grave concern over rising rates.
The CDC says between 2015 and 2016, suicide rates for non-Hispanic blacks increased more than 8.5%. The Hispanic population, during the same time period, saw just over an 8% increase. The rate for non-Hispanic whites remained nearly the same.
But if you take a broader look at suicide rates across cultures, it’s clear many communities are struggling to stop suicides.
A 2019 study from the National Center for Health Statistics shows between 1999 and 2017, suicide rates for whites, blacks, Asians or Pacific Islanders (API), American Indians or Alaska Natives (AIAN) and Hispanics increased across the board.
Younger Americans who’ve got roots across the globe say culture can impact the mental health discussion.
Yamini Rajan immigrated to Oregon with her family when she was in the sixth grade. Originally from India, she says Indian culture tends to silence the mental health conversation. Beyond that, she says stressful expectations to live up to a certain standard put kids under a lot of stress.
Yamini says she’s battled mental illness since she was in third or fourth grade. She’s now getting ready to head to college, but the journey to this point certainly wasn’t easy. She kept her mental illness a secret from her family for years. Shortly after her family moved to Oregon, her mom, Minal, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Yamini says her mom’s illness deepened her own depression. She was 12 years old. As Yamini progressed from sixth to eighth grade, she began to self-harm.
“I had no other examples of what to do because my parents had never talked to me about this,” Yamini said. In eighth grade, she attempted suicide. Thankfully, she survived, but she continued to hold the secret until a friend told her to tell the school counselor.
The school counselor told Yamini’s parents.
“I was too scared to face the truth,” Minal said. Minal says mental health is stigmatized in Indian culture. “In Indian culture, like in many other ancient cultures, like, the elders know better,” Yamini’s dad, Vijay Rajan, said.
Vijay and Minal says Indians put a lot of stress on careers and the type of work people do. They say your work defines who you are. For them, the realization of Yamini’s illness was a wake-up call.
“Imagine living in the same house, for over a year, where your child has been cutting herself all the way through her arm and you haven’t even noticed,” Vijay said.
The Rajans are able to talk openly about mental health now, but they realize many other families, many other parents across the globe, are too scared to start or participate in the conversation.
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