Why Hispanic culture grapples with mental health
Mental-health issues are universal, however Hispanic culture has always viewed the subject as taboo. Generations have been continuously affected by the standard in which mental-health issues are treated. The unspoken rule set up in Hispanic households has affected countless children and will continue to have such an effect.
Through firsthand experiences, I’ve been conditioned to cast my mental struggles aside instead of working through them. This harmful ideology that I’ve been exposed to as a child has caused me to develop issues that I need to work through now as an adult.
In Hispanic culture, it is normalized to face problems in an unhealthy manner or not face them at all. Issues I have encountered in my life have always been met with the words, “Supéralo, you’ll get over it.” Being exposed to this mindset of casting issues aside because they eventually will go away created this festering insecurity within me that as an adult I am stuck having to fix.
The effects of this mindset can even trace back to the experiences one has as a child. The first time I was exposed to this mindset was being told to ignore a child’s fall to prevent them from crying. “No le pongas atención porque va a llorar” has been heard by countless people living in Hispanic households. The idea of ignoring a child for the purpose of not wanting to deal with their cries creates this harmful mentally surrounding emotions.
Growing up being surrounded by people who believe mental health isn’t important causes people to have similar views throughout their life. Constantly being disregarded leads to suffering in silence. Similarly, I grew up in a household that pushed aside all of my mental-health issues. Not being taken seriously by the adults in my life caused me to disregard my own issues until I couldn’t handle it anymore.
Having an unreliable environment throughout my childhood left wounds that I am in therapy to mend. In my personal experience, I remember the extreme struggle I had in telling my parents I believed I was autistic. I was never taken seriously by anyone, so that led me into learning how to mask just to be socially acceptable. It took me until senior year of high school to finally tell my parents the internal struggles I was facing. I still continue to have impostor syndrome because all my life I was told, “You’re lying” or “You’re not autistic enough.” Since then, I have gone through a massive journey in accepting myself, and I will continue to learn and evolve to become myself.
Mental-health issues should never be ignored because they are actual problems that people deserve to be helped for. It is extremely normalized in Hispanic culture to take things lightly, however I believe mental health should not be included. Mental-health issues are valid, and everyone deserves to be heard and assisted with their personal problems. Normalizing mental-health issues will create a flourishing community where everyone is validated.
