For Fear Of Being Labeled ‘Loco’, Hispanics Dodge Mental Health Resources And Suffer

In the United States alone, more than 16% of the Latinx community struggles with a mental health condition. This is nearly 10 million people. And while mental health doesn’t discriminate against any one community, it does affect non-White populations at prolonged rates. Such that, depression in Blacks and Hispanics is likely to be more persistent than in White populations.

Stigma plays an antagonist role here and starts the domino effect: stigma can mean it’s taboo to talk about, read about, or even think about how you might be struggling with depression, anxiety, anger issues, or even an eating disorder. Then, this stigma can further lead to lack of information easily and readily available.

Then, with no information at your disposal, you might not even know you need help, let alone be in a position to seek out this help. This might feel like a never ending cycle of doom. Afterall, even for those Hispanics that manage to reap care, numbers show it is more likely to be poor in quality.

Apart from the above challenges, it has been documented that non-white communities are less likely to utilize mental health solutions (such as telehealth therapy) than their Caucasian counterparts. This is partly because of the stigma mentioned above, but also because of the medical community’s well documented Western European bias (a bias that goes double for digital health).

Meanwhile, the pandemic exacerbated how likely Hispanic and Black people (especially those unemployed and essential workers) were to report mental health issues. So while the problem is increasing, solutions are not.

On the social side, there has been an explosion of informal and accessible ways social media accounts communicate information to those in need. Through a combination of humor and cheeky language, accounts like LatinxTherapy (100K+ followers), Perolike (400K+ followers), Hijadetumadre (330K+ followers), and Weallgrowlatina (250K+ followers) have garnered widespread appeal by talking about “unsexy” topics like mental health.

Additionally, start-ups like Daisies are creating virtual and in-person communities where talking about mental health is celebrated.

Furthermore, Regina Athié, the founder and CEO of Cuentame, hinted at how important this issue is when she said, “Mental health is a must-walk-the-talk issue that needs to be addressed in every workspace. It is a right every human being should have access to; nevertheless, less than 6% of the population has ever accessed it. Let’s create a tremendous impact, where people can live and thrive.”

While Cuentame and Daisies both focus on populations residing in Mexico and Latin America, there are some parallels between their customer bases and Hispanics living in the United States. I would even argue the issues of the latter are greater given the added challenge of carrying a bicultural identity. Therefore, solutions specific to the U.S. Latinx population are necessary. One such start-up that has taken on this challenge is MiSalud.

Until recently, there was not a single mental health tech startup that was focused on the U.S. Latinx population. MiSalud provides this community with access to mental health coaches and licensed psychologists, on an unlimited basis, for a low monthly fee.

So, next time you see someone struggling with mental health issues, don’t simply dismiss them as ‘loco’. Chances are, she or he is internally crying out for help. After all, with more than 10M U.S. Hispanics suffering from mental illnesses, society cannot afford to keep brushing it under the rug.

Excerpted from “For Fear Of Being Labeled ‘Loco’, Hispanics Dodge Mental Health Resources And Suffer” in Forbes. Read the full article online.