Mental health discrepancies in the Latine Community

Nely Jaime

Department of social work, Mount Saint Mary’s University- LA

SW118 Research Methods

Dr. Michelle Melendres

June 21st, 2024

 Mental health services are often seen as unnecessary and a luxury. This enforces the

disadvantages of minority communities from receiving the care they need. Many things impact

the availability and the use of mental health resources. Some things include. Programs.

Available., Eligibility, and general belief and access. Mental health access and the practice of

receiving mental health services are low. In a study in Maryland, researchers wanted to find out

what barriers prevented children from receiving the mental health services they needed. The data

was obtained from a prevention project that analyzed 116 families who participated in 7th-grade

interviews, determining what resources the children needed and the barriers preventing them

from receiving the services. They found that the barriers that prevented access to mental health

services include structural constraints, perceptions of mental health, and perceptions of services.

Some things to consider about this. Study. Maryland. is predominantly made up of mainly white

people. the census states that the population in Maryland is made up of 61.6 % white people And

around 18.7% Hispanic people, which means that. Out of that population that was studied. The

percentage of Hispanic people. Who were surveyed was low. It is necessary for minority

communities, specifically the Latino community, to have proper and quality access to mental

health care. The National Alliance on Mental Illness found that only 35.1% of Latino adults with

mental health issues received treatment each year compared to the 46.2% of the U.S. average. It

is important to note that a significant percentage of Latinos in America are undocumented

immigrants who, as of recently, were eligible for health insurance. Culturally, in many Latine

communities, mental health is viewed as a myth, and there is much support. The Latin

community is primarily made up of Catholics and Christians who believe that mental health

struggles are due to connections to sin and the devil. It's problematic for the Latino community to

have such negative perceptions and access to mental health resources because mental health
services are necessary for the well-being of people. It is also crucial because the denial and

disregard for mental health can leave issues untreated, which infringe on the livelihood of

people.

This is an exciting study because it brings up the question. How is mental health viewed?

In Latino communities. And how does the way it's viewed have an impact o. n the type of care

and the beliefs Latinos have about mental health. Research as to why people in the Latin

community don't receive the care necessary is necessary because it's a form of inequality and

oppression.

The purpose of the research study

The purpose of this study is to determine what contributes to the discrepancy between the

Latino community and their access to mental health services. Often, minority communities have

less access to benefits, and the above is due to systematic structures. It's essential to what things

inside of the community and due to the community beliefs cause such considerable decency. It's

important to know what things work for and against this community to figure out ways to

exterminate them. This brings up the question of why there is such a big discrepancy regarding

the mental health care Latinos receive. It's essential to find out about the different things that

play a role in the lack of access and treatment for Latinos.

Literature Review

This literature review will find things that seem to impact the Latino community's mental

health access. Some of these include misinformation about mental health, the barriers Latinos

face when looking for mental health services, and misdiagnoses given to members of the Latino

community.

Misinformation about mental health in Latine communities

In the Latine community, mental health isn't seen as necessary; in the article, Mental

Health Literacy, stigma, and Behavioral Health Service Use: the Case oTheatin X and non-Latin

Whites, the research was done to determine if there was any difference in the mental health list

literacy between Latin X and non-Latinx whites and if the mental health literacy and depression

related stigma had anything to do between the ethnicity and their lifetime history of behavioral

health services use. It was found that there was a very connection between the Latin people who

had a lower mental health literacy and had higher levels, a stigma, and lower lifetime prevalence

rates of mental health services use. The city found that interventions targeting Sigma may reduce

disparities and behavioral health service utilization. This technically means that if there were less

stigma about using mental health services and more mental health literacy, Latinos would use

mental health services more. ( bento)

 Another study on the perception of mental health among the Latin X community, directed

by Jessica Garcia and Erika Valdez, measured the overall knowledge of mental illness and

services perception towards reasons for mental illness and responders' feedback to increasing

utilization of mental health services. This study was done by conducting qualitative interviews

with 16 Latinx individuals; some of the major themes that were found in the study were that

perceptions of mental illness in the culture were nonexistent and weak-minded, there was a lot of

stigma and fear of judgment, and religion had a huge part in the view of mental health in the

Latino community. This study found that the perception of mental health being a weakness by

the participants was embedded in them through their family and their cultural practices and

religious views.

In the article Systematic Review of Cultural Aspects of Stigma and Mental Illness among

Racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States: implications for Interventions, the

researchers found that The minority groups who know less about mental illness also have less

access to mental health services and lower quality experiences with the services meaning that

they don't know much about the services that are being given to them meaning that they have a

very negative experience attached to mental health. This study also talks more about the cultural

aspects of mental illness and the stigma that it's attached to. It brings up the point that mental

health is very stigmatized in Latino communities because it is seen as unholy and it is seen as

weak. Some cultures go as far as saying that if you struggle with mental health issues, it is due to

your attachment to sin and the devil. Misconceptions like these about what mental health is, the

lack of literacy about mental health, and the experiences Latinos have had with the services play

a massive role in the discrepancy regarding mental health care Latinos receive.
Barriers to seeking mental health services

Another prominent issue that enforces the discrepancy of Latinos having access to mental

health services is barriers like the access and skills needed to serve the Latino community. In the

article Barriers to seeking mental health services in the Latino slash community: A Qualitative

Analysis, the authors found that one of the main reasons why Latinos don't receive youth mental

health services is because the practitioners do not have the skills they need to interact with

Hispanic and Latino patients, things like being bilingual, having a cultural background on the

patient, and general understanding makes it very difficult for Latinos to want to seek out mental

health services. This article also talks about the fear and stigma associated with legal issues,

racism, and cultural miscommunication that Latinos face when searching for mental health

services.

An article posted by Western Center Online Poverty talks about California becoming the

first state to offer all eligible undocumented adults health insurance. This article was written after

California became the first state to provide health insurance for undocumented immigrants so

that they could apply for medical. This highlights another considerable barrier preventing

Latinos from becoming users of mental health services. Not only is any type of health care

expensive, but in addition to Latino's belief in mental health and the cost of mental health, these

two components make it practically very unlikely for Latinos to seek out mental health services.

mental health misdiagnosis in the Latino community

 In the article Mental Illness and Hispanics: A Review of Literature they talk about the

risks of Latinos receiving an inaccurate mental health diagnosis. This article says that this could

be due to linguistic barriers, which make the patient seem like they suffer from fewer mental

health disorders. Although this is true, this also brings up the point that a lot of Latinos are

misdiagnosed with things like schizophrenia and other mental health diagnosis, which are not

accurate. The difference in genetics and birthplace have an impact on the mental illnesses that

may be found, according to the article. According to this article, there are many factors that

infringe and correct and fast diagnosis for people in the Latino community, which is a massive

issue because this diagnosis heavily impacts this community and the people who are receiving

this diagnosis.
 Works cited

Benuto, L.T., Gonzalez, F., Reinosa-Segovia, F. et al. Mental Health Literacy, Stigma, and
Behavioral Health Service Use: the Case of Latinx and Non-Latinx Whites. J. Racial and Ethnic
Health Disparities 6, 1122–1130 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-019-00614-8

Garcia, Jessica and Valdez, Erica, "PERCEPTION OF MENTAL HEALTH AMONG THE
LATINX COMMUNITY" (2021). Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations. 1175.

Humberto Marin, M.D., Javier I. Escobar, M.D., and William A. Vega, Ph.D. Mental Illness in
Hispanics: A Review of the Literature. https://doi.org/10.1176/foc.4.1.23

https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/1175

Misra, S., Jackson, V.W., Chong, J., Choe, K., Tay, C., Wong, J. and Yang, L.H. (2021),
Systematic Review of Cultural Aspects of Stigma and Mental Illness among Racial and Ethnic
Minority Groups in the United States: Implications for Interventions. Am J Community Psychol,
68: 486-512. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12516

Rastogi, M., Massey- Hastings, N., & Wieling, E. (n.d.). Barriers to Seeking Mental Health
Services in the Latino/a Community: A Qualitative Analysis. Guilford Press Periodicals .
https://doi.org/10.1521/jsyt.2012.31.4.1