Five years ago, when she was 10, Janine, a Bronx girl, was sexually abused. During the next two years, she became more and more depressed because of the incident; her thoughts continually turned toward death.
“I did not want to be here any longer,” recalled Janine. “I thought it would be better if I were gone.”
She said that at the age of 12, she twice tried to asphyxiate herself with a comforter, and then began cutting herself with a pair of scissors. Eventually, her family realized what she was attempting to do. Janine, now 15, is in counseling to confront her problems, including the one for which she tried to take her own life.
Janine's experience is part of a complex and silent national phenomenon whereby adolescent Latinas have the highest numbers among those who have attempted suicide or who have seriously thought of taking their lives.
One of approximately every six teenage Latinas has attempted suicide – about one-and-a-half times the rate among their African-American and white counterparts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDCP). The data, based on a 2005 national survey on risky juvenile behavior, show that 14.9 percent of Latina students who were questioned said that they had attempted suicide, compared to 9.8 percent among non-Latina whites, and 9.3 percent among African Americans.
As a result, the National Institute for Mental Health has financed the largest investigative budget ever granted, to confront the issue. The survey, costing $1.7 million and based in New York, will follow 100 Latina girls between the ages of 11 and 19 for the next five years, to try to establish why young Latinas have the highest rate of attempted suicide among all groups of adolescents. A report will be published at the conclusion of the investigation.
“This is a matter of public health,” said Dr. Luis H. Zayas, a professor and sociologist at Washington University in Saint Louis, which is in charge of the study. “Whenever we've got numbers at these levels, we all ought to be concerned.”
Zayas and other experts in mental health maintain that the tendency has been occurring unnoticed for decades. As a young medical clinician 25 years ago in New York, Zayas said he noticed the disproportionate number of Latina girls who tried suicide. He has remained interested in the issue and over the years he has brought pressure for more research.
“It's the million-dollar question, why this is happening,” said Zayas. “There is a combination of forces that come together as the young girls integrate themselves more into the American social experience.”
Such forces include cultural clashes where the girls are expected to live in accordance with the strict traditional values of their parents, while they are growing up in a contemporary American society that allows greater liberties to young girls; family pressures to help around the house; conflicts with parents, especially with mothers; and the uncertainty about their racial and ethnic identity which creates a sense of isolation.
The majority of the girls are first- and second-generation (immigrants) and come from low-income or poor families, according to the investigators.
“For these girls, the two worlds could not be more different, says Belisa Lozano-Vranich, a clinical sociologist and co-author of The Seven Beliefs, a work that treats the question of depression among Latinas. “They feel there is no way out; they feel trapped at home and like they cannot go out because they are misunderstood.”
The experts believe that in reality many of the girls do not want to die, but rather act impulsively out of desperation when they find themselves involved in a conflict. The method they most commonly use to try to take their lives is either taking pills or cutting themselves.
Maritza, a 15 year old first-generation Honduran, said she swallowed a fistful of aspirin after a particularly bitter confrontation with her mother.
“She was screaming at me about school because I was failing my classes,” she said. “I took the pills because I don't want to deal with that.” After she had ingested the pills, her father woke her from a deep sleep. Today she says things are better since she has gotten counseling.
Vranich said that a very strong and intertwined relation exists between Latina mothers and daughters.
“A mother's opinion will have greater weight in anything that refers to her daughter's circumstances,” said Vranich. “The father's role is not the same as in an American family, where they say just wait ‘til your father gets home. His opinion counts, but not in the immediate way the mother's does. The father's role is to be a good provider.”
While Latina adolescents have the highest rate of attempted suicide, the highest rates of [successful] suicide in the United States are found among white men, Native Americans, and natives of Alaska, respectively.
For Latinas, the problem can be complicated by a combination of the cultural stigma in regard to seeking mental health services, together with the scarcity of bilingual resources – as much for the parents as for the children, mental health experts explain.
“The parents know nothing about therapy. They think it's nuts to talk to anyone who is not [at least] your cousin,” said Vranich. The other option the parents give their daughters, says Vranich, is “to pray.”
Jackie, a 28-year-old first-generation Dominican who lives in Queens, said that both her mother and her sister tried to commit suicide, her sister trying twice – first by taking pills and later by cutting her wrists. Her mother swallowed pills and left a note, but was taken to a hospital where her stomach was pumped.
Jackie said she suffered from depression after the birth of her first child when she was 20, and decided to seek counseling – a taboo in her family because she would be considered “crazy.”
“They don't know anything about counseling because nobody really talks about that,” said Jackie. “I think it's [considered] a shameful thing – as if you'd done something bad.”
The 2000 census showed that there were 117,152 Latinas between the ages of 13 and 19 living in the city of New York. Given the rate the Latino population continues to grow, advocates say there is an urgent need for services. In spite of the fact that a congressional law –the Suicide Prevention Among Young Latinas Act – was introduced in 2000 which asked for more resources to analyze the problem, mental health care advocates maintain there are not sufficient services to deal with the magnitude of the problem. Penny Galarza, assistant director of the Davidson Community Center, Inc. in the Bronx, who works with many young Latinas, said there is a tremendous need for educational programs, confidential work sessions, and counseling services.
“They do not want to face reality,” said Galarza. “It is shameful for the person who tries to commit suicide, so much so that they don't talk to anyone about it.”
Galarza also said that speaking openly about suicide would alleviate the shame and the stigma that surround the topic.
“You never see announcements or stories about suicide,” said Galarza, whose own daughter Darlene cut her wrists after her baby died of leukemia. “Why is it ignored? We need more publicity on the subject.”
Janine, the 15-year-old who tried to suffocate herself with a comforter two years ago, said that counseling had helped her immensely. She wants to go to college to become a child therapist.
“Because of everything that happened,” she said. “I don't want anyone to feel the way I felt.”
Telephone numbers to call:
Su Familia: The National Hispanic Family Health Helpline: 1-866-783-2645
The Committee for Hispanic Children and Families, Inc.: (212) 206-1090
Casa Abatex Ache: (718) 585-5540
Hispanic Federation: (212) 233-8955
