Study Suggests Suicidal Latina Teens Feel Disconnect From Their Mothers

Dr. Luis Zayas, a psychologist at Washington University, has made it his mission to study why, exactly, an alarming number of Latina teenagers choose to attempt or commit suicide. His five-year research, conducted using over 200 New York City Latinas, seems to favor the theory that these young women’s relationships to their mothers have something to do with the statistics.

According to Dr. Zayas, these strained relationships are the result of a generational and cultural divide between parent and child, with mothers, often born abroad, asserting their own ideas about femininity, familial obligations, appropriate conduct and social interactions onto their daughters, who are often hearing conflicting messages from friends, classmates and U.S. media. Explains Zaya:

Teenagers have certain freedoms; they don’t need to consult with their parents to make certain decisions. That’s the culture that’s here, and inserted in that is the Latino family that says the family is much more important than the individual.

We’re well aware that mainstream news articles about Latinas and suicide roll out once every couple of month and, more often than not, contain a lot of well-meaning but ultimately unhelpful hand-wringing. So we’re glad that Dr. Zayas is working to humanize these statistics and explain this phenomemon using the relatable, workable problems that might lie at their core.

The problem, then, is not some inherent defect in Latinas, in women, or in teenagers - it’s the result of a difficult and sometimes traumatic immigrant experience and a cultural divide. And this is good for the media, and the young lives these experiences impact, to know. Where there are reasons for problems, there are solutions and treatments for them.

Of course, one slightly disturbing aspect of CNN’s coverage of Dr. Zayas’ research says that one of his participants, Francisca, was able to break out of her cycle of depression through the use of therapy, prescription drugs and… becoming a teen mother better able to understand her own mother’s opinions and choices:

“I was tired of being another burden in my mom’s life,” Francisca says.

But the pain didn’t go away. A year later, Francisca was admitted to a psychiatric hospital after a teacher found the note she wrote at school. Three days later she was released and started counseling.

Several weeks later, Francisca met 15-year-old Xavier Cardona at school. She says their connection was instant.

“The first time we were ever together, he hugged me, and I felt like, ‘Oh my God, that felt so good.’ I felt so safe, I felt secure,” Francisca says. “It felt good to have someone hug you that way with such meaning.”

Breaking all her mother’s rules, she skipped school to spend time with Xavier. Then, two days after her 14th birthday, Francisca came home with devastating news — she was pregnant.

“I felt like I was going to die,” Isabel remembers. “I was embarrassed when it came to the rest of the family. What were they going to say? That I was the one who didn’t take care of her?”

In November, Francisca gave birth to a baby girl. She named her daughter Destiny, and slowly she says she began to understand her mother better.

“All she did was be a good mother, sacrifice her life for us,” Francisca says. “That’s all she did.”

Boys and babies don’t make depression go away. The juxtaposition of Francisca’s recovery with her relationship and pregnancy really makes us wonder what message this article is trying to impart. Listen to mom? Teen rebellion results in pregnancy? Babies make it all better? Oof.

Trapped between worlds, some Latina teens consider suicide [CNN]