Thread: Ala-Hispanic immigrants face emotional, mental problems

AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! They suffer emotional and mental distress and I'm supposed to care??? Yeah! Fat chance, you morons. AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That's funny!!!

Oh WAAAAAHHHHH! I'm so sick of these sob stories. You knew you were breaking the law, you knew you'd continue to break the law every day that you're here. Stress? I'd think so when you're living a life of lies! No sympathy from me!

Birmingham panel discusses mental, emotion problems facing Hispanic immigrants
Mental, emotional problems face newcomers to U.S.Thursday, February 19, 2009 ERIN STOCKNews staff writer
Sylvia Colon remembers feeling despair when she left everything she knew and moved to New York from Puerto Rico.

"When you leave your loved ones, your network, your church even, it becomes very, very stressful," said Colon, who came to the U.S. in 1990 for her medical residency.

That change, as well as the other hardships immigrants face, is thought to put immigrants at a high risk for emotional and mental problems, Colon said Wednesday at Cooper Green Mercy Hospital.

Colon, a psychiatrist who now works at the VA in Tuscaloosa, and two other doctors presented information on Hispanic immigrants and mental health to about 40 people. They said immigrants often struggle with significant loss, discrimination and poor living conditions that make them prone to depression, anxiety, substance abuse and other mental and emotional problems. Those who enter the U.S. illegally also can experience post-traumatic stress disorder from the "grueling," life-threatening trip, Colon said.

Cesar Munoz, a psychiatrist, said the need for mental health services for Hispanics is increasing in the Birmingham area as that population grows. The challenges of reaching them are great, too.

Hispanics are the largest group of uninsured people in the U.S. They often mistake depression for nervousness, tiredness or physical ailment, said psychologist Guendalina Ravello, another panelist. Less than 10 percent of those with mental disorders seek help from mental health specialists, she said.

Then there are the language hurdles.

"Imagine if you're asking for health care or mental health care not being able to communicate in your language," Ravello said. "It makes it very, very difficult."

E-mail: estock@bhamnews.com


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