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Unmuted: Breaking the Stigma Around Latinx Mental Health

The Latinx community is discouraged from seeking mental health care because of cultural norms, social pressures, and lack of access to bilingual resources and providers. Many people view discussions about common feelings such as anxiety, depression or suicidal thoughts as taboo and are often silenced. It is crucial for Latinx community to dismantle the stigma surrounding mental health and heal together as a community.

Video transcript

MONICA VILLALTA: Let's redefine what going to a therapist is and not shame it. To have someone to have a meaningful conversation, to have a better sense of where you are and what you could do to be better. What's wrong with that? There should be nothing wrong about it.

NURYS CASTILLO: Hello everyone. My name is Nurys Castillo, host and producer at Yahoo Life. Here with me today to discuss the importance of mental health in the Latinx community is Dior Vargas, a queer Latina mental health activist. Monica Villalta, National Director Inclusion and Diversity Officer at the National Alliance of Mental Illness, and Jason Rosario, Founder and Creative Director of The Lives of Men. Monica, I would love to start with you. What factors do you think prevent our community from speaking about or addressing mental health concerns?

MONICA VILLALTA: Well I think that a huge factor is the stigma. It's not only our own self silencing, but it's also that when we go to the systems of care who offer mental health services, we don't feel welcome. They don't speak to us in our own language. So those are some of the barriers, beginning with our own cultural stigma versus what the system does to us when we want to get help.

DIOR VARGAS: Absolutely. I also think in terms of stigma, I think it's also in terms of appearances and how we come across to other people in our community. We don't want other people knowing our business. When I started being open about my mental health, my mom was concerned. She said oh, people are going to think that I was a bad mom, that I didn't do my job right. It's something that's very embarrassing to us. So I think it's very much appearances, which is unfortunate.

NURYS CASTILLO: Speaking of appearances and how people perceive you, Jason, your organization specifically focuses on redefining what it means to be masculine or machismo within the Latinx community. In addition to phrases like therapy's for locos. [SPEAKING SPANISH], which makes it hard for men in particular to speak up. How do you think that you could change the culture?

JASON ROSARIO: Like, the very thing that we're told not to do, which is like you said, [SPEAKING SPANISH], man up, [SPEAKING SPANISH]. All of these things are the very things that contribute to us suffering from depression. We're not used to talking about our bodies in a very sacred way as men. You know, usually women are taught to be very in tune with their selves in that way. I'm trying to kind of change some of that thinking for men as well.

Oftentimes we have this idea of what depression and anxiety looks like in our community. And we don't necessarily think about the other ways that it shows up, right? Sometimes it shows up in your body, somatically. Right? Sometimes you might have a headache, you might suffer from lower back pain, and a lot of us attribute that to stresses of work, but we really don't connect that to what's happening in our bodies and in our mind and in our emotions.

And to me, we've got to change that perspective and look at therapy as a preventative measure, not a prescriptive measure. It's insights into your journey and who you are and your personhood that you wouldn't otherwise get. So I think that's the root of the benefit of therapy. And I think we just need to change the way we think about it.

DIOR VARGAS: Therapy is the ultimate form of self care. It's something that I've really benefited from. It's an opportunity for me to be more thoughtful about, and really reflect on who I am. It's important for us to start within ourselves, to really get in tune with ourselves and figure out what we're experiencing, and acknowledging that it's valid. Our community doesn't often go to the doctor for mental health, so it would be naive for us to think that we would be getting those diagnoses regularly.

There are certain things that are of the utmost priority. Getting a job. Going to school. Putting food on the table. And when it comes to mental health, that's not something that we prioritize. And so thinking about that as a quality of life issue. All of those things that I've just mentioned, if your mental health is not where it should be, then all of those things suffer.

MONICA VILLALTA: It's our opportunity to redefine mental health. Because is no longer what happens to those coo-coo, loco, or whatever. Normal for all of us to be affected to a degree. But when that degree is so intense that you cannot cope in your relationship with your family, with your loved ones, even at work, then it's time to ask for help.

Go to your peers, to your friends, to organizations, and make sure we don't continue using the language that stigmatizes. It took me to begin to have these conversations to realize how many times I use words that are damaging to those who have a mental health condition. I don't want to do that anymore. And I ask everyone not to do that anymore.

NURYS CASTILLO: Thank you so much, gracias Monica, Dior, Jason. Let's continue to have these important conversations, because it's much needed in our community. And thank you so much for being a part of this.