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Cultures and Worldview Essay
Psychosocial issues occur in all populations. However, the issues faced, or faced more
often, are different for each population. Psychosocial issues are events the disrupt a person’s life;
these can be things like traumatic events, housing issues, grief, financial matters, mental health,
and much more. (Chu et al., 2018) For the sake of this essay the population that will be focused
on is the Hispanic population.
Psychosocial Issues
The Hispanic population accounts for roughly 19.1% of the United States population.
(Bureau, 2023) This being said, that means there is almost 64 million people facing psychosocial
issues specific to their ethnicity. Some of the psychosocial issues the pertain to Hispanics are
discrimination which can lead to anxiety and depression, housing issues, and job issues. Housing
issues include being discriminated against because of ethnicity, which can include being denied
housing. Job issues are very similar to housing issues; discrimination due to ethnicity can cause
trouble finding a place to work and maintaining a job. According to the CDC, 31% of Hispanics
face discrimination when trying to find a home, 33% face discrimination regarding finding a job,
and 32% face discrimination when it comes to equal pay and promotions in the workplace.
Finding healthcare is also a issue that Hispanics face due to discrimination. (CDC, 2022)
Mental Health
In recent decades, research on discrimination and mental health has been rapidly
growing. This is because the amount of self-reported mental health discrimination has increased.
(Williams, 2018) The mental health of Hispanics is also different than the rest of American
population; 35.1% of Hispanic adults with mental illness receive treatment each year compared
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to the U.S. average of 46.2%. (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2018) This is due to many
different barriers to mental health care. Some of these barriers include language barriers, lack of
health insurance, poverty, a lack of cultural competence, immigration status, and so many more.
The biggest barrier is the stigma surrounding mental health and mental health services in the
Hispanic community. People in the Hispanic community are often known to be very private and
do not want to talk publicly about their lives. This only continues the cycle of the mental health
stigma. Some of the Hispanic community believe that it is better not to “air out your dirty
laundry in public” (“la ropa sucia se lava en casa”), this too only leads to more stigma
surrounding mental health. The stigma surrounding mental health in the Hispanic community can
lead to misdiagonsis, not recognizing anxiety and depression symptoms as well as symptoms of
other mental health issues. This being said, any mental health provider must be understanding of
the lack of knowledge and comfort that may surround mental health for a Hispanic individual.
(National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2018)
Interview
While the above paragraphs are a general overview, this following paragraph with discuss
the psychosocial issues that Hispanics face from a first-hand interview with a Hispanic who
moved from Mexico to America when he was young. This man, (referred to as such due to the
want to remain anonymous) explained that he found the biggest issue that effected his mental
health was leaving people he loved behind and not being able to see loved ones when they
passed away. The barrier of immigration was the cause of this. He also recounts like the stigma
surrounding education, transportation, and housing were also great. Not being accepted because
of his ethnicity caused him to feel left out and unseen. He also expressed that the jokes made
about his ethnicity cause great sorrow because of the hurt they bring, especially when the
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stereotypes are not true to him. All this to say, the issue that is discrimination, caused
psychosocial issues such as education barriers and housing issues. These psychosocial issues
then caused negative effects on his mental health. The biggest mental health struggle he
expressed affected him was depression. The fact that he was unable to see people before he lost
them, the loss of loved ones, the discrimination, the psychosocial issues; they all piled up and
caused him to be depressed and question everything in his life.
Central Therapeutic Approaches
The most common central therapeutic approaches are cognitive behavioral therapy,
dialectical behavioral therapy, narrative therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and a few
others. These all can be used to aid with mental health struggles regardless of one’s ethnicity. The
most reported uses are cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy. (APA,
2009) Regardless of the type of therapeutic approach, there must be an understanding that the
client is coming from a different culture and therapist must prioritize the different approaches
that help with cultural diversity. (Greater Good, 2023)
Would This Population Be Hard to Work With?
Simply put, no. I do not think that I would have any issue working with the Hispanic
population. I think that like any population I need to be well versed in the common mental health
struggles that plague said population and I need to know what therapeutic approaches I am going
to utilize when working with said population.
What Can Improve for This Population in Terms of Mental Health Services?
I think there needs to be more understanding of diversity and more openness to exploring
different cultures in order to best serve our clients. I think that the amount of discrimination
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needs to be decreased substantially (preferably to zero), and I believe that there needs to be an
understanding each ethnicity is going to be different, and we must be able to account for that and
do our best to serve each one’s specific needs accordingly.
Conclusion
Overall, the Hispanic community faces several psychosocial issues that cause mental
health struggles. Along with this, there is discrimination towards different ethnicities which
makes it hard to find mental health services that are willing to work with different communities.
Therapists must be culturally aware and be well versed in diversity and have a knowledge on
how to best serve each ethnicity well; this includes the different therapeutic approaches that work
best with each ethnicity.
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References
APA. (2009). Different approaches to psychotherapy. Apa.org; American Psychological
Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/psychotherapy/approaches
Bureau, U. C. (2023, August 17). Hispanic Heritage Month: 2023. Census.gov.
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2023/hispanic-heritage-
month.html#:~:text=63.7%20million
CDC. (2022, August 15). Unfair and Unjust Practices and Conditions Harm Hispanic and
Latino People and Drive Health Disparities | Smoking and Tobacco Use | CDC.
Www.cdc.gov. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/health-equity/hispanic-latino/unfair-and-
unjust.html#:~:text=34-
Chu, S.-Y., Lin, C.-W., Lin, M.-J., & Wen, C.-C. (2018). Psychosocial issues discovered through
reflective group dialogue between medical students. BMC Medical Education, 18(1).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-017-1114-x
Greater Good. (2023, May 24). Latinos Need Therapists to Acknowledge Our Culture. Greater
Good.
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/latinos_need_therapists_to_acknowledge_ou
r_culture#:~:text=Culturally%20competent%20therapy%20for%20Latinos
National Alliance on Mental Illness. (2018). Hispanic/Latinx | NAMI: National Alliance on
Mental Illness. Nami.org; National Alliance on Mental Illness.
https://www.nami.org/Your-Journey/Identity-and-Cultural-Dimensions/Hispanic-Latinx
Williams, D. R. (2018). Stress and the Mental Health of Populations of Color: Advancing Our
Understanding of Race-related Stressors. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 59(4),
466–485. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146518814251
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