An issue that effects many people in America today, especially Latinos, is a lack of health insurance. A huge barrier is raised to fixing this problem of mental illness when only 66 percent of all Latinos have health insurance, and of that 66 percent, only 41 percent have mental health coverage. I hope the new healthcare legislation will provide some assistance in this area. I believe it is unacceptable to have less than half of Latinos that actually have health insurance to not have mental health benefits. I'm sure the problem of lack of coverage for mental health illnesses covers many people in America other than Latinos as well. This continues to show that throughout all of society, there is still a stigma and lack of understanding about mental illnesses as a whole because so few people lack the coverage they need to receive treatment.
One of the interesting things the article points out is how the Latino culture hinders the treatment of mental illnesses. Their deep religious culture causes many Latinos to go to their church for help dealing with the illness instead of contacting a physician. The culture also puts a huge emphasis on a person being able to deal with their own problems instead of reaching out for help. While I do believe this is a problem for many other people outside the Latino community as well, it seems this self-reliance is an even more important part to the Latino culture that effects their desire to seek out a physician and treatment. It is very difficult to change the culture of a group of people as a whole, but increased education to Latinos about the risks of mental illness and the available treatments would be a start to having more people become aware of the problem, and hopefully taking steps towards treatment of everyone that suffers from these illnesses.
After reading this article, I have become more aware about the effect stigmas can have on a population as a whole. I think the stigma regarding mental health is well documented, and hopefully the increased attention has started to slowly take away those stigmas from our society. Sometimes it is easy to shift blame onto the people with these diseases for not seeking out treatment, but we do this without realizing the cultural and social barriers many Latinos face even after acknowledging their illness. After educating the community as a whole, what other measures can be taken to rid the stigmas and resistance to treatment we see in the Latino community? Also, how do we ensure there are enough resources for a Spanish speaking person to receive treatment? A language barrier is almost impossible to overcome when treating a mental health issue because of the complexity that goes into the diagnosis. It is the responsibility of America as a whole to make sure that we don't neglect the needs of a certain community around us, but instead make ourselves aware of the problems and strive to fix them in any way possible.
I think the topic of stigmas in different cultures is a really interesting and challenging topic in terms of public health. Especially in Latin America, I think a lot of stigmas exist that hinder health care to people who need it most. In high school when I visited El Salvador on a mission trip, I met a doctor who worked to help spread awareness about pregnancy. She talked about how their culture had a large stigma against pregnancy out of marriage, and because abortion was illegal, many women died trying to perform private abortions on their own.
ReplyDeleteLike mental illness, I think thing issues like abortion face many societal stigmas. Like you said in your post, I too believe that through education, public health workers can bring aid those who need it most.
The part of this tragedy that hurts me the most is that this another painful example of a disease that we have the means and the ability to both prevent and treat in this country, but many are still greatly affected. One idea that came to mind when I tried to imagine a way to solve this problem was one of a social awareness program. As Zach stated, there is a tremendous amount of respect put in following the suggestions of the elders, and especially priests, in the Hispanic cultures. I wonder if the priests in these areas were more educated on this topic, if they could help encourage people needing treatment to visit a doctor. Is there anything that would prevent this idea from working?
ReplyDeleteOne of the most difficult aspects of mental health is the widespread fear of mental illness. It wasn't too long ago that white America had the same opinions regarding mental illness. It is only after society has become more progressive and open regarding mental health, that awareness has spread to the point where we don't see mental illness in such a negative light. I fail to see why the Latino community won't move in that direction in the next 20 years. I personally feel that mental health stigmatization is itself a byproduct of a changing world brought upon in the last 30 years.
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side, I feel that we as a Western Society need to be careful in what we diagnose as mentally healthy. I remember reading a study in which psychiatrists found a remarkably high prevalence of schizophrenia in Native Americans in comparison to their European cohorts. This high prevalence was actually incorrect as many of the subjects weren't schizophrenic but were afraid from being uprooted off the reservation and being brought to a foreign environment where they are barraged by needles. I think its important for us to be sensitive in accounting for cultural differences. We shouldn't dismiss various cultural aspects simply because it doesn't conform to what Western society expects.
I think it is especially interesting how a stigma can go both ways. I feel like mental illness has always been frowned upon because, obviously, it is just not as tangible to non-sufferers as perhaps other illnesses. However, as in America now how it has become more well known the affects of depression and anxiety and other mental illnesses, when amongst the general public it is concerning that maybe it is written off as "everybody is depressed once and a while". In reality, mental illness means illness of an entire individual in many different ways and personally, this is something that makes me entirely passionate because I think that this is something that is crucially debilitating.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting too that mental illness tends not to be thought of, like in class when we all listed off the major issues that the globe is facing in regards to health concerns. I personally just wonder if it is a fear that answers will never be found and that it is harder to dive in and deal with this sort of pain, rather than physical pain that can be treated with medications. This is also probably a result of governments not being willing to fund a ton of research or advocacy in these areas because statistics do not favor things that might take a lifetime to overcome.
I am very glad though that this article brought this issue to light, and I do think that it is so important that we track the way that cultures can affect and cause mental illnesses to manifest themselves in different areas, and it got me to thinking why in the United States we entertain the ideas of mental illness whereas in Latino societies they would turn their shoulders. It is interesting to think that human weakness in this case might be found not in affected individuals, but maybe in society's lack of value and investment in the improvement of quality of life for all.