The Seed

Some of us were born in the U.S. and others have made the journey alongside our parents to “a better world with better opportunities.” Whether you identify as Latino, Chicana, Puerto Ricano, Mexicano, Cubano, Mexican- American, Hispanic or a “no sabo” kid, the one thing that brings us together is our rich family ties and the culture we pass down from one generation to the next. Our community embodies some of the best things in life like music, art, dance, great food, storytelling and much more. Growing up hearing of the strength and resiliency of our parents and other family members can be both inspiring and difficult to live with. There’s a pressure to excel, to be the best we can be, to make the efforts and sacrifices of the ones we love most worthwhile.

The Weeds Around Us

The thing about pressure is that under healthy conditions it can do us good. It can allow us to feel motivated, to feel ok with making mistakes to learn and grow from them. Under unhealthy conditions it can do quite the opposite. It can make us feel trapped, insecure, and overwhelmed. According to John Elflein, a research expert covering health and health care, in 2020, only 10.7% of Latinos in the U.S. received counseling or mental health treatment. If we compare that to pre- pandemic, in 2015 only 8.1% of Latinos received mental health services. Meaning, despite a global pandemic occurring, we only saw about a 2% increase in accessing care for our wellbeing within our community.

Whether it be due to a language barrier, poverty/ lack of health insurance, stigma “eso es para los locos”, or legal status, we, as a community, are not accessing the care we very much deserve. It can be especially scary to attempt accessing care while undocumented. Many Latinos live with the fear of being ripped from our families, from being unable to provide, from being asked to present a seguro social that we may not have. Some Latinos are monolingual in Spanish and don’t feel comfortable using the English they know with a stranger due to embarrassment or fear they won’t be understood.

How the Plant Continues to Grow

So how do we move forward? How do we move towards the better life our previous generations worked so hard to ensure we would have? We begin with something that we do well as a community: storytelling and closeness. We begin to have conversations around what it means to “not be ok”, to need help, and to identify signs that we need to talk to someone about how we are feeling. There are several resources available to all of us to begin seeking care.

If you don’t know where to start and have a primary care doctor, begin there. If you would feel more comfortable with an interpreter, request one. If you are not receiving care from a primary care doctor, low cost (or free) mental health clinics can offer help. Many clinics offer groups, skill building, psychoeducation and even psychiatry in addition to individual counseling. If reaching out for help from outside sources brings you feelings of overwhelm, begin having the conversation in your home or with friends you trust. Perhaps something has been weighing heavily on your mind and heart is the same thing that’s been causing your friend restless sleep at night. Allowing someone to see your vulnerabilities gives them the chance to identify and share their own. There is a beautiful opportunity for connection if we allow it to happen. For us to continue to grow, we must allow our roots to spread and our foundations to firm.

“Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.” – Cesar E. Chavez.