Stigmas are unfair beliefs that a society has towards a particular individual based on social characteristics that ostracizes them from other members of society. Mental health help has, for many years, fallen under this disapproval among Latino communities. With the Rio Grande Valley being a Southern border town between Texas and Mexico, there is a looming disapproval within the community for those struggling with mental illness and for seeking mental health treatment, this is known as stigma.

Stigmas in mental health care are deeper than seeking professional help from your local therapist, the disapproval begins in the home. Many times taking care of oneself is seen as selfish as families fight to survive. With many families in debt and working to make ends meet, feelings and emotions of others are not valid in the home, and are often seen as second to their parents. Children are often not encouraged to speak their emotions nevertheless seek a mental health professional. From a report conducted by Valley Baptist (2017), “of the 1.2 million RGV residents, one in four have some level of mental health needs.” Stigmas in mental health can be witnessed in many aspects of Latino communities through traditional culture, spiritually, and lack of access and trust in the healthcare system. 

Culturally, Latino communities are collectivist, meaning the actions and decisions of one person is a representation for the entire family. When somebody goes to therapy, they are seen as “locos” insinuating something is “wrong” with the individual and therefore their family. This stigma is felt through the whispers in the community, judging the individual and typically seeing them as “weak” or any other negative association. Being a collectivist culture, someone in the family seeking mental health care may represent that the family is “unstable.” This is one of the many reasons Latino families do not condone mental health care for members due to judgement and “chisme” (gossip) from the surrounding community members. Therapy programs aim to be culturally aware of each individual client and seek to incorporate their culture and its healing practices into treatment such as specific spirituality. 

Spirituality plays a strong role amongst stigma in regards to mental health treatment. With the Rio Grande Valley being predominately Catholic, these ideologies are the norm. For Latinos who practice Catholicism, seeking mental health from professionals may not be an option that comes easily. In the religion, people don’t believe in getting mental health help because their parents and ancestors believe only God can help/heal. Seeking help outside of practiced religion typically comes with emotions related to shame and guilt. In therapy, counselors want to incorporate the clients religion into the session as a way for the client to find support within communities they already have established. Community support is helpful long term for individuals as medical insurance is limited and costly. Even if residents do have insurance, there is a strong lack of trust in the healthcare system.

The lack of trust in the health care system comes from “past prejudice or because white doctors simply don't understand their culture and upbringing” (Price,  2017). A predominant problem being language barriers. When talking about emotions and retelling stories, saying it in the client's preferred language is best for memory recollection. Many times the translation changes much of what was being said. Mental health programs are adapting and trying to meet the needs of its clients. For mental health professionals, programs require cultural competence courses to prepare professionals in providing psychotherapeutic services to diverse communities. Additionally, certifications for working with Spanish speaking populations. Taking all this into consideration, Mental Monarchs has started a Charla (conversation) where we talk about how our Hispanic stories, legends, dichos may or may not influence our perception of mental health today.

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