Suicide Rate Among Latino Men Is Rising Despite Drops in National Average, Here's Why

A recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that overall suicide rates in the United States declined in 2019 and 2020, but suicides among Latino men have increased.

According to CDC, the year-over-year suicide rates declined by 3 percent after nearly two decades of increases. Overall, it fell by 8 percent among women and 2 percent among men.

However, there were a few notable outliers. According to Public Health Watch, suicides among Latino men, in particular, surged by about 6 percent.

Many Latino Men Died by Suicide Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

According to health advocates and providers, problems such as substance abuse, job loss, limited access to care, and the stigma of mental illness in the Latino population, which all existed prior to COVID-19, worsened during the pandemic.

Fredrick Sandoval, the executive director of the New Mexico-based National Latino Behavioral Health Association, said Latino men were not getting much help, and services shut down. He added that those who sought care most of the time encountered lengthy delays, so others simply gave up looking.

Also, Sandoval noted that Latino men, as well as women, lost jobs at disproportionately high rates amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a 2020 study published by Pew Research Center, the unemployment rate for Hispanics increased from 4.8 percent in February to 18.5 percent in April, but it declined to 14.5 percent in June.

Sandoval said the fact that Latino men were no longer the primary wage earners had a significant effect on their emotional state and impacted the men's sense of responsibility and self-worth. He noted that some had turned to alcohol or drugs to cope with it.

A 32-year-old Latino man from Albuquerque, who used black-tar heroin as his outlet, told Public Health Watch that he tried to kill himself twice. He believes that the economic trouble associated with the COVID-19 pandemic could have driven other Latino men also to take their lives.

"You can't provide for your family, you're sitting there worried about what's going to happen... If you can't provide, what kind of man are you? That's the mentality you're taught," the man said.

The CDC reported that 45,979 people died by suicide in 2020, fewer than 47,511 in 2019.

Biden Administration's Mental Health Plan Not Designed for Latinos

In his State of the Union address on March 1, President Joe Biden announced a new plan to address the country's mental health needs. He called for "full parity between physical and mental health care."

Biden's plans include the launch of a 988, a three-digit mental-health crisis hotline, and setting up mental health services in "non-traditional" settings like in schools or libraries.

Sandoval said he was pleased to hear Biden's plans but asked, "How do we know we can get more services to Latinos?" According to Sandoval, Latinos are being treated as hard-to-reach people even though they are not.

"Latinos are not hard to reach. The system isn't designed to engage them. It's a very passive system: We wait for you to come to us for help," he noted.

Sandoval then suggested that local engagement groups be assigned to events Latinos frequent, like church bazaars. He said health care should be physically present in homes, backyards, and neighborhoods, and "not in a building where staffers sit and wait."

Luz Garcini, an assistant professor at UT Health San Antonio's Center for Research to Advance Community Health, said Latinos seldom discuss mental health since it was "very stigmatizing," especially to men, as it was equated with mental illness.

However, Garcini said advocating for more funding for research, mental health providers, and protection of safety-net access is much needed. According to recent census data, Latinos have the biggest uninsured rate of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S.

One of the myths ingrained in Latino culture is that problems are best dealt with alone, and seeking help reflects weakness, according to Cheryl Aguilar, a therapist and a director of the Hope Center for Wellness in Washington, D.C.

On the contrary, Aguilar, who has many Latino immigrants among her clients, believes that seeking support takes and shows courage.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

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