Stress is a big component in everyone’s lives. Specifically, for Latina immigrant women in the United States, stress affects mental and physical health. Latina women get stressed from living up to society’s expectations and dealing with discrimination and pressure. This leads to their health being affected negatively and often not knowing how to improve it.
Immigrant: what does that word mean? An immigrant is a person who goes to live permanently in a foreign country. Among these immigrants are Latina women who go to different countries, in this case the United States. In an article by Sharita Forrest titled “Discrimination, family conflict key sources of stress for Latina immigrants,” she mentions different factors that can play a role in creating stress for Latina women who are immigrants. Some of these factors include maintaining contact with family abroad, discrimination, economic problems, etc. When it comes to family abroad, Latinas feel the stress of keeping in contact with their family who stayed in their home country where Sharita Forrest mentions “Difficulties maintaining close ties with family living abroad and cultural conflicts…” (Forrest 2014). This is a cause of stress because often times when immigrating, people can’t bring their entire immediate family, often leaving their parents or siblings behind. This creates that stress because with work or children, Latina women can’t keep in contact with their family all hours in a day. The constant worry they may have of their parents’ health and financial stability puts a strain on their mental health.If they don’t have their parents in the same country as them, specifically their mother, they will feel a need to have a parental figure or someone that can look after them and have a nurturing aura.
This discrimination intersects with economic problems because if they get discriminated against, there will be less opportunities. Less opportunities will lead to no job, no job will lead to financial problems. Lastly, financial problems will lead to stressing about how they will survive which may lead to depression. Financial problems can also lead to bad health because they possibly won’t be able to afford food or insurance to go to the doctor and be up to date with their health. On the other hand, Latina women may be working multiple jobs. “May be working multiple jobs, yet they have all these domestic tasks…” (Forrest 2014). Keeping up with multiple jobs and then coming home to take care of children and cook/clean can also be a key factor in women’s cause of stress.
In addition, stress is a risk factor that affects mental health. Pressure from their environment, family, and society can cause mental distress. In the book by Yvette Flores titled Chicana and Chicano Mental Health, she discusses the reasons for depression and anxiety in Latina immigrants. “Their psychological distress may be related to segmented assimilation…results in underemployment, limited upward mobility…” (Flores p. 52). Getting to a new country and practically starting from scratch can take a toll on Latina immigrants’ health. Not knowing the language to communicate with people or not having anyone familiar in that country can be stressful for them. Sometimes there is even pressure with family, like them expecting the women to complete the roles of being the one who takes care of the home (cooking and cleaning) and still having to go to not one but multiple jobs.
All in all, we see that stress is a big problem within the Latino community, specifically among the women who are immigrants. Problems like facing discrimination, dealing with family or lack thereof, immigration status, et, proved to be what caused stress in women. This stress leads to declining mental and physical health, as well as not finding the right coping strategies to get through it.
