As we work to increase awareness of the mental health evaluation and treatment services we offer to immigrants in the greater Cleveland area, we are also becoming more aware of immigrants’ mental health issues in the media. We found a compelling article today on NewAmericaMedia.org that says immigrants’ health typically declines after they arrive in America. If you’re surprised, we hope you’ll read this excerpt from the article, and then click through for the full text.
The Latino paradox
Despite social and economic disadvantages, newly arrived Latino immigrants are, by many measures, healthier than other groups. That’s been called the Latino Paradox. But the evidence also shows that the longer these immigrants are in the United States, and through successive generations, the paradox disappears: Risks of chronic conditions such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease increase.
“The suggestion is that they’re adopting unhealthy American lifestyles,” said Alex Ortega, a Fielding School professor whose work focuses on the physical, medical and mental health needs of Latino children and their families. Ortega is also principal investigator of the UCLA Center for Population Health and Health Disparities, a $10 million, five-year effort funded by the National Institutes of Health to study and reduce cardiovascular disease risk in East Los Angeles.
Less attention has been paid to a similar phenomenon. Ortega has found that among Latino children, the longer they have lived in the United States and the more generations their family has been here, the higher the risk for poor mental health. Among the possible explanations: “As people immigrate and become acculturated, in some cases they lose family and social ties. And without those support systems, they lack the safety net to help protect them from the effects of poor mental health,” said Ortega. Similar findings have been reported for other immigrant groups.