Hispanic suicide rate alarms leaders
If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting “988.”
DALTON, Ga. – A group from teens to seniors gathered in an office inside a grocery store, where Spanish-language food signs cater to the large Hispanic population in this northwestern Georgia city dominated by the carpet industry.
At America Gruner’s Tuesday night meetings, about a dozen people sit on makeshift furniture and tell their stories of mental health crisis and suicide. Gruner, 64, formed the support group in 2019 after three Latinos ages 17 to 22 died by suicide here over two weeks.
“We couldn’t wait for research,” said Gruner, founder of the Coalición de Líderes Latinos. “We wanted to do something about it.”
The data is already in. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s provisional numbers for 2022 show a record high of nearly 50,000 suicide deaths for all racial and ethnic groups. Grim statistics from KFF show that the rise has been more pronounced among communities of color. From 2011 to 2021, the suicide rate among Hispanics jumped from 5.7 to 7.9 per 100,000 people.
For Hispanic children 12 and younger, the rate increased 92.3% from 2010 to 2019, according to a study published in the Journal of Community Health. Ser Familia, a social services organization in metro Atlanta, said it has seen alarming numbers of Hispanic children with suicidal thoughts.
It’s a problem seen coast to coast, in both urban and rural communities.
Stress piles up on young people
Mental health experts said there are many social and economic pressures on minority groups. For Hispanics, who may be of any race, cultural and systemic obstacles may also be at play.
Immigrant children are often expected to take more responsibility when their parents don’t speak English. Many live in poorer households with family members who don’t have legal residency. And cultural barriers and language may prevent many from seeking care in a mental health system that already has spotty access.
“Our kids are interpreters, they pay bills, go to medical appointments,” increasing their stress and anxiety, said Belisa Urbina, CEO of Ser Familia.
The Latino Community Fund Georgia also pinpoints stress linked to immigration worries. A study of Latino adolescents ages 11 to 16 found the detention or deportation of a family member was associated with significantly higher odds of suicidal thoughts.
“There are waves of immigrants coming as minors, displaced and sometimes not with immediate caregivers,” said
Diane Elias, vice president of behavioral health at the Children’s Institute in Los Angeles. “This can put hefty burden on children. They are expected, as minors, to balance self-financing and earning money to support family or help them immigrate to the U.S.”
Furthermore, mental illness can also be culturally taboo. “There is a belief that men shouldn’t seek help – they should solve their problems themselves,” said Francisco, 55, a member of the Dalton support group who attempted suicide as a teen. KFF Health News attended the session where he and others spoke, using only their first names for privacy reasons.
A woman named Angela said her three daughters had anxiety and depression. “One of them told me she is suffering because we are immigrants,” she said.
Katherine, 16, cited, among other factors, unstable living conditions. For a time, she said, “we were struggling to find a home. We would be roommates with other families.”
Her friend Alejandro, also 16, said he’s struggled with suicidal thoughts after the death of his grandmother and arguments between his parents.
Obstacles and solutions
Language remains a significant barrier. In July, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline added texting and chat in Spanish, but a spokesperson for the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration acknowledged more work needs to be done to reach communities at risk.
“We have a tremendous need for bilingual mental health providers in Georgia,” said Pierluigi Mancini, CEO of the Multicultural Development Institute.
Gruner is aware of only three bilingual providers in her area – a county that is more than one-third Hispanic.
Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services in Los Angeles offers a Spanish-language suicide helpline. “When we answer the calls in Spanish, you can hear that relief on the other end,” said program coordinator Alejandra Vargas.
Bias can add another obstacle. Nirmita Panchal, a senior policy analyst for KFF, said mental health symptoms of children of color “may be mistakenly characterized as disruptive behaviors.”
Rand Corp. used secret shoppers to schedule mental health appointments in California. About 1 in 5 Spanish-language calls ended with the scheduler hanging up or informing the caller that no one was available to assist in Spanish.