This past Christmas break, Rafael Zavala mentored his last class of students from the Southwest Side of Chicago, where he grew up. The engineering student at the Illinois Institute of Technology did it hoping that the young people would be inspired to pursue degrees in science and technology despite any trouble at home or in the streets.
It was Zavala’s “strong leadership, bright soul and intelligence,” that masked possible signs of what led him to kill himself Jan. 14, said his mentor and friend Claudette Soto.
“It was an extreme shock to everyone because we saw such a strong person on the outside,” she said recently. “His immense potential was overshadowed by his mental health state.”
Those who knew and counseled Zavala, 23, say his reluctance to talk about his struggles points to larger issues among Latino young people, who are less likely to seek help than other youth suffering a mental illness, according to recent studies. And they hope his death will help inspire others to seek help. Behind Zavala’s smile and commitment to the community, “there was a broken soul,” said Tanya Cabrera, Zavala’s counselor at IIT during his first couple of years at the university. Zavala expressed his struggle with depression and frustration a few times, according to Cabrera.
For nearly two decades Cabrera, now at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has served as a counselor and outreach coordinator for minority students in higher education, particularly those who live in the United States illegally. She said stigmas tend to keep those suffering from depression, or any other mental illness, from getting the help they need.
Cabrera said she hopes Zavala’s story will inspire others to raise awareness about the mental health crisis in the Latino community, often masked by cultural stigmas and taboos. Those are fueled by beliefs that mental health issues are a myth and Latinxs “should just suck it up,” Cabrera said. Some also perceive mental illness as “craziness,” linked to feelings of shame.
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