All of us go through these feelings
One of the things about our Latinx community is that we don’t seek help — unless it is really, really late, meaning that when we don’t see any other way around. Sometimes we say, OK, maybe it’s time now to go to the doctor. Maybe now it’s time to go to the hospital. Maybe it’s time now to talk to somebody.

I will tell my Latinx community, first of all, don’t feel ashamed. All of us will go through some of these feelings and it could be normal. You may feel sad, you may feel anxiety, some depression — all of us, we go through some of these phases. Don’t feel ashamed, “I’m feeling this way so something is wrong — I don’t want to talk about this – I want to hide it.”

I think the more you hide it, sometimes it just gets worse. It’s not easy to open up. It’s not for our community. I think talking about these issues sometimes is very hard and sometimes taking the first step is the hardest one.

…the more you hide it, sometimes it just gets worse.

Start somewhere. Don’t keep it all inside.

Showing my patients that I’m human the same way you are human, don’t assume just because I am a doctor — that I’m here talking to you — that I might not be going through or went through some of the situations that you are experiencing. I try to truly tell them, these feelings you are having; you can just open up and try to talk through them and you may need help.

I share some of my own stories. I have seen a counselor so you may need to really think about doing that so you have somebody that you can talk to. Start somewhere. So don’t really keep all this inside.

I share some of my own stories. I have seen a counselor so you may need to really think about doing that so you have somebody that you can talk to. Start somewhere. So don’t really keep all this inside.

Luckily, I feel a little more comfortable to seek attention. But that was not easy. It took me some time to say, “I need help.”