Pestilencia Mental

Last week an extensive Gallup Poll disclosed the state of emotional health in the U.S. The poll surveyed people's responses to questions about depression, anxiety, stress, hopefulness, optimism and other similar states of mind. The responses were translated into a so-called Emotional Health Index (EHI). And I'll let you in on a little secret: the EHI...not so good.

Taken over almost every day of 2008, the survey was able to track changes in the overall mood of the nation in what was an incredible year indeed. There were a multitude of salient events that occurred creating many ups and downs. Most notably the election of our first black President ever created a sense of pride and optimism amongst a majority of people in the US. And we saw the last days of former President Bush to boot - although some sadly misinformed citizens didn't see that as a laudable affair.

Unfortunately that Yang didn't occur without its Yin*. 2008 was also a year of recession which we are still experiencing. The burst of the housing bubble and failing of all the dubious mortgage-backed securities brought a sense of insecurity across not only the nation, but also the world. Bear Sterns collapsed. Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. And tax payers found themselves giving bonuses to CEO's who needed a bailout in order to offset their profligate ways. Even Botox procedures took a hit of -8.5% last year.

According to USA Today, these latter developments had more of an impression on our moods than anything else. (Latter as in the failing economy, although a lack of Botox might definitely make some "appear" to have taken a turn for the worse!)

Stress shot up over 2008, peaking in the fall and winter as the economic crisis deepened, then continuing high through February. The 10 least happy days of 2008 all were in the last quarter.

The report also noted that mental wellbeing was worse for Latinos than any other group.

There were few racial differences, but Hispanics, the nation's largest and fastest growing minority, had the worst emotional health all year long.

This fact isn't particularly surprising to me. Latinos are often hit worse by some of the major infectious diseases and ailments our nation is faced with. For example, if you are Latino you are twice as likely to have diabetes and Latina women have five times the rate of HIV/AIDS compared to non-Latina whites. Moreover, the emotional downturn impacted the poorest individuals the most which constitute a large body of Latinos.

Tough and ardent times like these take their toll on individual stamina and hopefulness. Most of us are aware that unemployment often means health might take a stab or two due to being uninsured, but mental health seems to be overlooked in many ways. In the USA Today article, Lanny Berman, executive director of the American Association of Suicidology, notes that unemployed adults have two to four times the suicide rates of employed people.

And in terms of California's large Latino population the situation could perplexingly become worse. According to a recent study by Guilherme Borges, ScD, et al, the rate of those who seriously consider and actually attempt suicide is higher for Latinos that were born in the U.S. and those who moved to the U.S. before age thirteen.

As the largest home for Latinos in the US, this has serious public health implications for California. In fact, California ranked 30th among all the other states in terms of their EHI. With California's unemployment rate inching above the national average towards 10% we ought to take notice not only to the lack of health coverage our citizens will be seeing but also the mental health we will be experiencing. 

- m.tsang

[*As an artifact of my article presintation I was forced to write Yang without Yin which sounds considerably less casual as Yin without Yang. Yang is associated with sunny; Yin with dark.]