Traditional culture in the West Indies does not include conversations about mental illness. For some, an overwhelming cultural expectation to be easygoing leaves little room for illnesses like depression or anxiety.
A 2012 study of inpatients in West Indian hospitals found that 12 per cent of inpatients needed psychiatric care, but that only 1.5 per cent of hospital patients were ever referred. The study found that one of the primary reasons for the low rates were doctors worrying that their patients would be offended or stigmatized by a referral.
Once people leave the West Indies, it may be harder to grasp the concepts of mental health without associating it with cultural stigma.
The following are a collection of quotes from people still living in the Caribbean, as well as first and second generation Canadians with East Indian roots. All of those interviewed struggle with some degree of mental illness.
“It’s possible that the mental health services for people in the (millennial) age group are good in terms of care. Down here, a lot of people with mental health problems tend to be people a lot older on the streets who are there because they went insane from drug abuse.”
-16 year old, living in St. Vincent
“I think people down here are oblivious to the fact that people down here may be mentally unstable, because you don’t see a lot of cases.”
-18 year old, living in St. Vincent
“Crazy home pick me up.”
-18-year-old resident of mental health facility, living in St. Vincent
“I needed support. I should be coping better, but I didn’t ask for support.”
-45 year old, first generation Canadian
“Vow to not keep things from my parents, but do it factually.”
-45 year old, first generation Canadian
“I’m pregnant now, and I know that I will raise my child in a household where it is okay to talk to a psychiatrist, it doesn’t mean you’ve gone crazy.”
-31 year old, second generation Canadian
“Didn’t want to seem weak, like I couldn’t manage my kids.”
-28 year old, first generation Canadian
“Being on medication was top secret. I took a leave from work and did not tell my parents until two months in. At first, my Mum was angry that I didn’t inform her, but I think she started to understand”
-45 year old, first generation Canadian
“Never used the words depression or anxiety, because then it would seem too real.”
-19 year old, second generation Canadian
“It’s not episodic, I will struggle with this for the rest of my life. It’s not over, and I think they would like for it to just be over.”
-45 year old, first generation Canadian
“They have a better time accepting it when it is associated with something else, like I was starting my first year of university so it makes sense for me to be anxious. They would never acknowledge that I have a generalized anxiety disorder, something doctors diagnosed me with almost a year later.”
-22 year old, first generation Canadian
“Not warm and fuzzy like the parents of other people I knew.”
-26 year old, second generation Canadian
“I softened the blow with telling my parents by giving them articles. This had a dual purpose – of showing them that other people struggle like I do, and it’s not something to be ashamed of. Mum Googled, and gave them to my dad to read. The issue now was their interpretation of the articles.”
-45 year old, first generation Canadian
“I tell my kids now they can ask for anything, and tell me anything.”
-45 year old, first generation Canadian
“Being on top of my own daughter’s mental health. I’ve taken her to every single person under the sun. I don’t want her to spend 10 years of not knowing. She can openly talk about her feelings.”
-45 year old, first generation Canadian
“I never thought the way I was feeling was a real thing. I couldn’t tie it to one particular instance in my life, and I think that’s why my parents had a hard time grasping it. My depression just came on hard and fast, and I couldn’t say why.”
-31 year old, second generation Canadian
“I also didn’t need to be handled with child gloves, I am still a functioning adult. Just functioning with bipolar disorder. I think it was hard for my family to group the two together.”
-45 year old, first generation Canadian
“Lack of education surrounding mental illness is a huge factor. I don’t blame my parents for not understanding my depression because I don’t think my mother even faced her own depression.”
-28 year old, first generation Canadian
