For the Latinx/Hispanic community, mental health and mental illness are often stigmatized, resulting in prolonged silent suffering. This silence compounds the experiences that may have contributed to the original mental health condition, including immigration, acculturation, trauma, and generational conflicts. Further, the Latinx/Hispanic community faces unique institutional and systemic barriers that may impede access to mental health services.
Mental Health America offers resources and tools in Spanish that can help. Click here to download or view their resources.
For the immigrant community, access to care can be complicated by language, culture, insurance access (resources), and citizenship status. Immigrants are more likely to have experienced trauma or witnessed violence, may lack social supports, which leads to substance abuse or domestic violence, and may live in a state of “hiding.” Mental Health America provides a PowerPoint that details some of the challenges and some of the solutions related to supporting this community.
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