In her blog on the National Alliance on Mental Illness called “Depression Is,” Ingrid Vasquez shares her story of her journey through depression and how her culture disrupted her mental illness. This blog is part of a series titled “You are Not Alone,” which gives individuals who have mental illness the opportunity to share their stories and impact the lives of others, whether that impact be to professionals (i.e. doctors, researchers, therapists), those who can relate to the situations (i.e. others with mental illness or those who know others with mental illness), and those who are unaware of the authentic impression of mental illness.
Over the course of her essay “Depression Is,” Vasquez focuses on the fact that mental illness is real, …show more content…
Previously, the strength of Vasquez’s Latina culture was discussed. It was expressed that Vasquez’s culture has a stigma of their own; they need to be strong and not vulnerable to the rest of society, because they are a minority: “My culture had showed me that I needed to surpass any hurdle that came from me” (Vasquez). Because of this, Vasquez felt that burying her depression would make others in her community accept her more, which only made her depression worse. According to Overton and Medina in “The Stigma of Mental Illness,” “He [Goffman] discussed how stigmatized people form a virtual social identity when they become disfavored or dishonored in the eyes of society, and then they become outcasts” (Overton 144). This means that, moreover, Vasquez was set apart from her own community in society since she was different, whether that difference can be seen or not seen. Overall, her family thought she did not integrate with the norm of her strong culture …show more content…
Her culture and family made having depression much harder to cope with but she refused to let it overcome her: “Because I am Latina, I wanted to prove them wrong” (Vasquez). Vasquez began and ended her story by expressing that knowing oneself (and what the individual is going through) is much more valuable than the stereotypical opinions of others. By sharing her story on the National Alliance on Mental Illness blog, Vasquez explained that outside forces do play a big role in a mental illness, but the significance of directly finding the reality of the situation inside yourself, and not letting others decide for you, is more powerful than any stigma: “Depression exists and we have to open our minds to admitting it exists to help people get the help that is needed” (Vasquez). All in all, in the big picture, Vasquez wants others to truly understand that there will be conflicts when the realization comes. This not only affects you, personally, but acting on the realization (controlling your own health) can potentially help others who are having trouble
Over the course of her essay “Depression Is,” Vasquez focuses on the fact that mental illness is real, …show more content…
Previously, the strength of Vasquez’s Latina culture was discussed. It was expressed that Vasquez’s culture has a stigma of their own; they need to be strong and not vulnerable to the rest of society, because they are a minority: “My culture had showed me that I needed to surpass any hurdle that came from me” (Vasquez). Because of this, Vasquez felt that burying her depression would make others in her community accept her more, which only made her depression worse. According to Overton and Medina in “The Stigma of Mental Illness,” “He [Goffman] discussed how stigmatized people form a virtual social identity when they become disfavored or dishonored in the eyes of society, and then they become outcasts” (Overton 144). This means that, moreover, Vasquez was set apart from her own community in society since she was different, whether that difference can be seen or not seen. Overall, her family thought she did not integrate with the norm of her strong culture …show more content…
Her culture and family made having depression much harder to cope with but she refused to let it overcome her: “Because I am Latina, I wanted to prove them wrong” (Vasquez). Vasquez began and ended her story by expressing that knowing oneself (and what the individual is going through) is much more valuable than the stereotypical opinions of others. By sharing her story on the National Alliance on Mental Illness blog, Vasquez explained that outside forces do play a big role in a mental illness, but the significance of directly finding the reality of the situation inside yourself, and not letting others decide for you, is more powerful than any stigma: “Depression exists and we have to open our minds to admitting it exists to help people get the help that is needed” (Vasquez). All in all, in the big picture, Vasquez wants others to truly understand that there will be conflicts when the realization comes. This not only affects you, personally, but acting on the realization (controlling your own health) can potentially help others who are having trouble