Trying to get a traditional Mexican household to acknowledge the importance of mental health can feel like trying to break a curse. It’s like a jinx that has been weaved through generations, masked by religion and left to the children of immigrants to crack open.
The Latinx community faces unique barriers to mental health assistance such as language, stigma and legal status that directly impacts insurance coverage, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. More than half of young adults ages 18-25 do not receive treatment for their mental illnesses.
The Latinx culture tends to be private. It’s a culture that rarely talks about their own issues at home. The phrase “la ropa sucia se lava en casa” is embedded in the community which makes it difficult to talk to others, even specialists, about mental health for fear of being labeled “crazy.”
Social support from friends and family also plays a critical role in the mental health of Latinx students, according to Tara Suwinyattichaiporn, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Communications who conducted a study on the Cal State Fullerton community.
Read more at DailyTitan.com.
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