SPRINGDALE -- Cultural understanding, bilingual counselors and more education about mental health all can help curb the heightened risk for attempted suicide among Hispanic children, particularly girls, several experts said Thursday.
About two dozen counselors and school and church workers gathered during the lunch hour at the Immigrant Resource Center for a NWA Suicide Prevention Coalition session on particular concerns Spanish-speaking families experience. A nuanced understanding of those families' backgrounds and a good dose of patience are both essential, panelists and participants said.
At a glance
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or suicidepreventionli…
Red Nacional de Prevencion del Suicidio: 1-888-628-9454
Source: NWA Suicide Prevention Coalition
"If a Latinx family comes to you to seek help, that's a huge step," said Diego Barrera with the NWA Center for Sexual Assault's victim services, using a term some consider more gender-neutral than Latino or Latina.
About one in six high school students in the country have seriously considered trying to take their own lives, according to federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates from 2015, but that figure jumps to more than one in four Hispanic girls. They're also twice as likely as the overall population to attempt suicide.
Boys do both about half as often as girls, and Hispanic boys are more likely to do so than their white and black male peers, the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance survey found. Depression, substance abuse and drinking also tick up.
The increased risk means tens of thousands more suicide attempts around the country than if the risk were equal.
"We're talking about our community," said Jennifer Coldiron, a coalition member and school-based liaison manager for Ozark Guidance, which provides counseling services for adults and children during and outside of school.
Northwest Arkansas is home to more than 80,000 Hispanics, including roughly half the students in Rogers and Springdale public school districts.
Thursday's panelists pointed to prejudice against Hispanic people and the stigma attached to mental illness in the United States and other countries as likely reasons for the higher risk.
More mundane factors can also hamper mental health, they said. Children who grow up in the U.S. and want to date or spend time with friends outside of school might clash with parents or grandparents with more conservative cultural and religious mores, for example. Families can sometimes brush off signs of depression like changes in sleep, aggression or suddenly slipping grades.
"Our generation, we go into denial," said attendee Veronica Valadez, a mother of two and family liaison for the nonprofit Youth MOVE Arkansas that connects families with mental health and emergency services. "To get us out of those denial stages is very hard."
If a family ever gets in the door of a therapist's office, English can present its own obstacle. School counselors should know that Latin American countries have their own cultures and linguistic habits, and translators don't always do the trick, Barrera said.
He also noted sexual orientation and gender identity can further complicate the picture, and church or family rejection can bring an even greater weight to someone's mental health. He's transgender and remembers thinking about suicide before he was old enough for school, hoping he'd be reborn in the right body.
But tight family and religious ties can also be assets, creating a support system and providing pathways to spread more information about signs of depression or other problems and how to help, said Patricia Rodriguez, who also works at the sexual assault center. She hopes to encourage more Hispanic students to go into mental health professions.
"The knowledge and the talent is out there," she said.
Heather Pratt, who heads education and outreach at Fayetteville's Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, said she was glad to learn more about several local groups and nonprofits that work in mental health. The information can help the pastor know where to send churchgoers in need, she said.
"This was interesting, and I want to learn more," she added.
NW News on 03/17/2017