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By Gwen Aviles, Ali Galante and Steve Patterson
Bertha Loaiza's mission is to eliminate the shame caused by mental health problems, especially suicide, among other Latinos.
His work stems from his painful personal journey.
Loaiza, now 32 years old, was 3 years old when her mother took her to the edge of the San Diego-Coronado bridge in California and jumped with her in her arms.
Loaiza miraculously survived the 246-foot dive after a fisherman removed her unconscious body from the water. His mother, Angelica Medina, did not do it.
In her childhood, Loaiza did not remember the incident, thinking instead that she and her mother had had a car accident that had caused her eyes and leg injuries, and that she had been injured. no member of his family had corrected him.
But at 17, she discovered the truth while she cleaned her house. Loiza found a tape containing a report about a convalescent little girl after her mother jumped from a bridge on August 4, 1985.
"It was the worst feeling because I always had some kind of guilt. I had no clear recollection of her, said Loaiza. "I could not remember his smell, his laugh. So I see this VHS and it was even more foreign to me.
Loaiza was overwhelmed by a torrent of questions: why would her mother do that? Why did not anyone talk about it? But at first she did not mention her discovery to her family.
Mental health is a taboo subject & # 39;
This is not surprising, according to Luis Sandoval, a psychiatrist at Kaiser Permanente based in Los Angeles. Mental health is a particularly "taboo" topic among Hispanics, he said.
As a result, he sees a "silent epidemic" that prevents many Latin American families from asking for help.
Studies have shown that fewer than one in 11 Latinos contact mental health specialists. However, Sandoval says that the stigma against mental illness is so strong that even when patients come to see it, their treatment is inhibited by the fear of seeing how their illness will be met by family and friends.
Sandoval has had patients who stop taking the prescribed medication after a few days as directed by their family. Some patients keep their treatment secret to avoid any judgment.
"We are convinced that people are seeing you in the way they are going to treat you," said Sandoval "There is no in-between, you are normal or you are loco, crazy, and you do not want to be labeled like a crazy. "
It's not just a fear of sounding crazy, Sandoval said, but also a fear of appearing weak. A recent Kaiser Permanente survey found that 69% of Hispanic respondents think depression and / or anxiety are caused by "weakness or personal failure".
Sandoval thinks that these attitudes might even dissuade Latin American doctors from entering the field of psychiatry while it is actually necessary to integrate more Hispanics into the sector.
In the United States, there are approximately 57.5 million Hispanics, but only 1,373 psychiatrists identified in the country as Latino in 2010, according to the latest report "Diversity in the Physician Workforce" from the American Association of Medical colleges.
"Most families do not encourage their children in the Hispanic world to get into the field of psychiatry – mainly because it is not understood and we do not talk about it," he said. Sandoval.
Talk about the "ugly thing"
Over time, Loaiza and her family began discussing the circumstances surrounding her mother's death. She learned that in addition to experiencing hormonal changes since her pregnancy, her mother, who had immigrated from Mexico to the United States, was facing the stress of being in a new country.
She also learned how her mother – who positioned herself to bear the brunt of the impact of the fall of the bridge – loved her.
Sandoval believes that one way to end the stigma of community mental health is to make it a family problem.
"Once you educate the family and demystify what it means to have mental health problems, you make the family understand that mental health is something that can be treated," said Sandoval.
"They will learn to help the person who is there and what to say and what not to say," said Sandoval, "but do not simplify it or tell them they should put back and be stronger. "
If families are religious, patients may be reminded that "they are created in the image and likeness of God," added Sandoval.
Today, Loaiza is a member of the Board of Directors of Survivors of Suicide Loss, a California-based organization that provides mental health training and runs 16 support groups for people who have lost loved ones in everything they do. l & # 39; State. Loaiza also co-hosts the organization's first bilingual group, recognizing that language barriers may prevent some Latinos from getting help.
Loaiza works with the project "Find Your Words" by Kaiser Permanente and Story Corps. The website contains resources, including personal stories, for people with depression, as well as for their family and friends.
"I think it would be a disgrace to be without a pulse in the water and then give the chance to live that wonderful life I had and do nothing with it," Loiza told NBC News.
"Let's be more aware," she added. "It's nice to talk about these ugly stuff, because it could be a lot uglier if we did not do it."
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