Mental Health Stigma among Puerto Rican College Students

When people have a mental illness society tends to segregate them. (Image: Google)

Stigma takes over the way we deal with others and make certain decisiones in life. Many of the things we do, wear, think, feel, or look like are stigmatized. Commonly, stigma is defined as a mark of disgrace or reproach, in more basic words, stigma is a base of discrimination, exclusion and hate. While this might come as a shock, one of the biggest stigmatized concepts is mental health. Unfortunately, the most recent statistic study formally distributed in Puerto Rico was published in January 16, 2017. The author, a journalist from El Nuevo Día newspaper, Benjamín Torres Gotay, states that 7.3% of Puerto Rican adults between the ages of 18 and 64 years, suffers from a serious mental condition. The same articles continues to state that 2 out of 10 people on the island live with some psychiatric condition. 1 in q0 suffers from severe depressive disorders. And 4 out of 10 persons with serious mental problems receive no treatment of any kind.

Mental health is a state of wellbeing that each person treats differently. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 1 in 4 United States citizens between the ages of 18 and 24 have been diagnosed with a mental illness, while more than 11% percent of college students have been diagnosed or treated for anxiety in the past year. Morever, 10% percent reported being diagnosed or treated for depression. Not to mention, more than 80% percent of college students expressed feeling overwhelmed by all their academic and personal responsibilities, while 45% expressed they felt things were hopeless. Viewing these statistics, it is plain to see that there is a problem among the college population that needs to be addressed correctly once and for all.

«I don’t think I can go to a psychologist, it’s embarrassing and people will think I’m nuts!» This appears to be the way of thinking of a first year college student, who will be called Carlos to maintain his identity anonymous. His story is relatable to many others. He goes on saying: «Ever since high school I’ve known that stress and anxiety are growing in me. It’s like trying to do all the chores your mom said to do before she got back the minute you hear her car pulling up. You get this sense of ´I have to do this quickly!´, or ´Oh my God I wont be able to finish in time, she will kill me!»´

Proceeding this he said: «As I started college I began to feel different. Starting to doubt my every move, feeling desperate to go on to the next task while I was barely beginning the one I was currently in. Not to mention, tiny panic attacks invade my body every time I feel overwhelmed. It’s a big struggle just to maintain my mind on track. When I talked to my best friend about it he said I should probably talk to my parents about it. When I did, they just said that its child’s complain. They straight up told me that I was overreacting and I should just grow up and deal with it like an adult…»

Carlos’s story is just one in a thousand others we might hear. The simplicity of searching for help was cut off by the fact that not even his parents were able to accept what he told them as something important to him. Sometimes those who are closest to us are the ones who stigmatize the most.

In an interview with Dr. César Padilla, a Psychiatrist operating in Camuy Puerto Rico, he gave some interesting input on the matter and stated: «anxiety and depression are like an earthquake and a hurricane, anxiety is unpredictable and can happen at any moment, depression can be noticed and it shows certain symptoms»

On average, there is a chance that 12 in 20 college students who suffer from anxiety, also suffer depression. What this means, is that from a segment of 20 college students, already dealing with one mental illness, 12 have to worry about two.

Valerie, a third year student who suffers from both anxiety and depression (and prefers to also maintain her identity anonymous), explained that in the beginning, she could just feel her ‘anxiety kicking in every once in a while’ and that while she even ‘got help’ from her parents and a professional, she felt overwhelmed by the stress college and life were passing on to her. “At first I just knew about my anxiety and I learned how to deal with it, but as my second year of college reached its second semester, I started feeling sluggish. All I wanted to do was sleep, I couldn’t really concentrate and my tolerance for my family and friends began to lapse and I didn’t know what to do. I decided to go back to my professional and he told me about my depression and helped me find ways to cope. I really don’t regret it, now even though I still struggle and I still get called weird, crazy and suicidal. Even if I’m not, I don’t let it get to my condition or let it affect me.”

Journalist Domingo Díaz del Peral wrote an article for El País newspaper and established that mental health’s stigma «is inherited from centuries of incomprehension, from mentality prone to locking the madman away, instead of helping him from a perspective of health and integration. It has been more than 20 years since the psychiatric reform began, the psychiatric hospitals were dismantled and the madman became a citizen. But dismantling the stigma of collective consciousness seems a much more difficult task.»

This said, it appears evident that millenial college students face more than just stress due to academic and family obligations and pressure. The stress attached to knowing about your mental illness can be overwhelming for some. This can increase feelings of instability if the person affected does not receive support from his or her closest circles, but signs of prejudice and stigma that insists on belittling the problem or covering it up. Be sure to remember there are ways to find help and you don’t need to feel singled out. There are a number of people who suffer from the same symptoms and illnesses.

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