my research paper draft is below:

Adriana Rodriguez

Karlianne Seri

WRT 102.72

10 March 2018

Why Does a Stigma Towards Mental Disorders Exist In the Hispanic Community?

Mental health is a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being. Some examples of mental disorders are: depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In the United States, mental disorders are taken seriously and they have the veterans as to verify that mental health is important. PTSD is a common mental disorder that occurs in war veterans. PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) occurs after one has suffered a traumatic event.According to U.S Department of Veterans Affairs, the department of government that provides healthcare services for the U.S military veterans,  About 15 out of every 100 Vietnam Veterans (or 15%) were currently diagnosed with PTSD at the time of the most recent study in the late 1980s, the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS). Latinos, on the other hand, don’t really take mental disorders seriously. when someone within the community is said to be having symptoms of a mental illness they are “loco/a” (crazy). Shaela Dichoso, a reporter for CNN stated that: “only about 20 percent of Latinos with a psychological disorder consult a general health-care provider about their symptoms, and just 10 percent contact a mental-health specialist”. There are about 49 million Latinos in the U.S. and only 20 percent of them speak out on their condition. Many Hispanics are not open to accepting mental disorders as a serious illness.The purpose of this paper is to explore why the stigma of mental health in the Hispanic community exists.

First generation immigrants, the sons, and daughters of immigrants are likely to understand mental health better than their parents; this has to do with cultural exposure. Carmen Cusido is the daughter of Cuban immigrants, she was assimilated to American society rather than her roots. Cusido wanted to look like Jennifer Aniston and Kate Moss (NBC). Cusido was going through an eating disorder, specifically, anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is “an eating disorder characterized by weight loss (or lack of appropriate weight gain in growing children); difficulties maintaining an appropriate body weight for height, age, and stature; and, in many individuals, distorted body image” (NEDA). While she was going through an eating disorder, He parents were completely oblivious to her condition: “My parents’ ignorance about my “American disease,” as they called it,”(NBC). Cucido’s parents as well as other Hispanic don’t understand mental disorders and Hispanic immigrants had trouble understanding an eating disorder because like carmen, her parents came to the United States because of the political oppression and economic state that they were in. How will her parents understand that their American daughter wants to starve when there are people starving in their home country. The generation gap and the cultural difference between immigrant parents and first generation immigrants promotes the stigma of mental health because the immigrant parents enforce their beliefs to their children.

Lack of education is another factor that contributes to the stigma of mental health in the Hispanic community. Hispanics aren’t aware of mental health and mental disorders.  when someone within the community is said to be having symptoms on a mental illness they are “loco/a” (crazy) which creates the stigma because they completely ignore the illness and disregard its power. The ignorance towards the illness allows for an wrong idea of what the illness is. Latinos often receive the wrong treatment for mental disorders because they deny that mental health is a real diseases. Cusido’s parents even tried having an oncologist view her because they thought that she had cancer (NBC). The lack of education and understanding worsens the stigma because it allows for it continue to exists.

Because Latinos don’t see the mental disorder as a real issue, they don’t receive the correct treatment for their illness. Receiving the improper care for a mental disease can influence the perspective of someone who is going through a disorder because it promoted the incorrect believes that the person already has towards mental illnesses .A majority of latinos are raised believing in religion and religion plays a role in why latinos don’t believe in mental health disorders because Latinos are more likely to get their mental health services from religious leaders . The lack of awareness that latinos have on the subject may restrict them on getting help. The stigma and the incorrect is what keeps people from facing the reality of the disease.When Latinos face to a religious authority, they will say that they reason why someone with depression is going through that is because they are not close enough to god, a mental health professional will diagnose that person with depression. The incorrect help will just add on barriers to reality of the illness and add on other evidence for latinos to upheld the stigma.