LATINAS AND DEPRESSION
In communicating with these first-generation Latinas, it was clear that family was incredibly important to them and their mothers. I have seen this in my own family and community. In a 2008 study of 6th- and 7th-grade inner-city Latino youths, Hugh F. Crean found that though research on Latino parent-child relationships is very limited, it does show that “Latino Americans attribute more importance to the family as both a source and recipient of emotional support than do non-Latinos.” He also found that mother-daughter conflicts were more intense than conflicts in other parent-child relationships. This contention put Latina girls at increased risk because they may lack important support resources. Research shows that adolescent Latinas have a higher suicide rate than any other ethnic and racial minority.
Wow, I had no idea the rate of suicide was so high among latinas!
I have struggled with depression and suicide problems and I feel that as I discover how to navigate life picking up the pieces and getting stronger I need to talk openly about it. The Latin community hardly ever accepts dealing with mental illness. There is such a huge taboo. I think it’s just hurting us. The more we talk about it matter of factly the more comfortable we’ll get with it.
Oh boy can I relate to this. I wrote my master’s thesis on U.S. born daughters and their relationship with their immigrant Latina mothers. Such a complicated relationship, one that I have experienced first hand, so I guess I figured I’d use my college education to try to figure it out. Its better now that I’m older but we still have our difficult moments. One thing that helped shift things was me learning to have more compassion for how difficult it must of have been for her to raise me when I was so hell bent on being different. Once during an argument she actually told me that she had no idea how to raise me and that, strangely enough, was probably the most validating thing she’s ever said and the thing that sort of started to turn things around.
One thing I can never get past though is that double standard… even though my youngest brother is almost thirty now, we still have arguments over that double standard- of the past and the present.
Wow, one of the many reasons I love Amy Tan is that she gets the whole immigrant mother-daughter relationship. It’s amazing knowing that I’m not alone in this.
Great article! I could relate with the authors experience growing up.