Filipinx Mental Wellness: Claiming Our Spot at the Table
I was born in Urdaneta City in the province of Pangasinan in the Philippines, the second of three children, the first and eldest daughter. There is so much about my childhood on the islands that I recall, and hold onto tightly - spending the handful of pesos I had at the sari-sari (convenience) store located at the corner of my grandmother’s barrio, wasting my afternoons away stepping over puddles and catching frogs with my friends at my condominium complex, learning calligraphy at Montessori school and going to Kumon once the bell rings, every single holiday spent with my biological cousins (and my cousins that we called cousins but weren’t technically our cousins), etc. etc. I could probably write an entire novel narrating the way childhood felt, sounded, smelled, and tasted. Maybe I will one day.
Yet, there is also so much that I don’t remember - that I can’t remember. I don’t remember what my friends’ and I’s last conversation was before I boarded the plane. I don’t remember the last homemade meal my grandma made for us. I don’t remember the last time I was able to put together a complete, cohesive sentence in Filipino.
All I know is that my final moments were filled with fear, confusion, and a sense of grief I didn’t quite know how to name yet.
My experiences throughout adolescence informed, and continues to inform, a significant portion of my professional trajectory. While I am a Filipina immigrant, I am also queer, and these two facets of my identity haven’t always gotten along, let alone been allowed to exist in the same space. I grew up in a constant state of confusion, denial, and isolation - a clunky mess wrapped in barbed wire. I often found myself wading in the “in-between,” drowning in the perceived truth that others would never be able to understand me if I could not find the strength to understand myself.
There exists no specific word that encapsulates the meaning of mental health in the Filipino language. Sure, there are direct translations - kalusugang pangkaisipan, sakit sa pag-iisip - with that latter phrase directly translated to mean “sickness in way of thinking.” I personally believe that these direct translations do not do the realm of mental health justice, almost bordering on injustice. Injustice in the sense that this translation relies on a pathologizing lens and fails to include a systemic perspective. While it is true that neurological, biological and other physiological conditions can certainly contribute to the development of mental health difficulties, we must also consider external circumstances that uniquely affect the queer Filipinx community, such as hiya (shame, stigma), loss of amor propio (losing face/dignity), survivor mentality, war trauma, colonization/historical trauma, and prejudice/discrimination, among others.
Stigma and Shame
A nationally representative survey conducted in 2005 found that 28% of Filipino adults viewed homosexuality as being “unacceptable,” (Reyes et al., 2015) in part due to cultural norms and the influence of religion. Due to religious teachings that enforce the idea that heteronormative partnerships are what are considered “normal and good,” non-heteronormative relationships are then labeled as deviant or immoral. Additionally, it is a commonly held value that conflict in general should remain within the confines of one’s nuclear family, as to preserve social legacy and promote self-sufficiency (UC Davis Health, n.d.). The implicit sense of indignity that becomes attached to this intergenerational practice of remaining hush-hush inevitably leads to self-stigma, which Reyes et al., (2015) have found to be correlated with negative cognitions about self, loss of self-esteem, and poorer overall well-being.
Looking beyond the family unit, we can find sources of stigma embedded within broader institutions - specifically, the education system. There is a great disparity that exists in the quality of education surrounding mental health as it pertains to queer Filipinx individuals, and the education that is in place can often be skewed by cultural beliefs about the roots of mental health conditions. Community leaders, clinicians, and clients alike concur that receiving appropriate educational resources regarding mental health care was a necessary step to improving the quality of care available to Filipinx communities (UC Davis Health, n.d.). Lastly, the extent and manifestations of social stigma vary across socioeconomic classes, generations, and geographic location, emphasizing the need for a wider scope of perspective, research, and consideration.
Barriers to Mental Healthcare Access
The following aspects have been identified by Filipinx-American community members as sources of resistance related to help-seeking behavior (UC Davis Health, n.d.). Raising awareness is the first step to calling for action towards the betterment of mental health care - mental health care that queer Filipinx individuals have a human right to:
Lack of providers that are proficient in communicating in Tagalog and/or other dialects that are indigenous to the Philippines
Decreased competency among interpreters in conveying medical terminology
Reluctance to acknowledge mental health conditions as “actual” problems; attitude that mental health should be low on the priority list since they are viewed as untreatable.
Concern around lack of confidentiality in clinical settings
Cultural gaps between clinician and client regarding the immigrant experience, importance of collectivism, and the role of holistic remedies
Perceived and actual threats of the criminalization of mental health issues
Classism and colonial mentalities that work to perpetuate traditional social norms
An overall lack of resources tailored toward queer Filipinx individuals and communities
Resources Available for the Filipinx Community
Most, if not all of the following resources (Dellota & Santiago, 2022) were created by the community, for the community, which points to an empowering message: the mental wellness movement is alive, strong, and growing across the Filipinx communities. It is imperative that we continue the conversation, and continue to take up well-deserved space.
References
Dellota, M., & Santiago, D. (2022, September 14). Mental Health Resources for the Filipino Community — One Down. One Down. Retrieved November 1, 2023, from https://onedown.media/read/mental-health-resources-for-filipinos
Filipino-American Voices:. (n.d.). UC Davis Health. Retrieved November 1, 2023, from https://health.ucdavis.edu/media-resources/crhd/documents/pdfs/narrative-filam-english.pdf
Peña, K. D. (2022, October 10). Mental Health Day: The need to defuse a ticking time bomb for millions. Inquirer.net. Retrieved November 1, 2023, from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1677897/mental-health-day-the-need-to-defuse-a-ticking-time-bomb-for-millions
Reyes, M. E. S., Lanic, P. J. P., Lavadia, E. N. T., Tactay, E. F. J. L., Tiongson, E. R., Tuazon, P. J. G., & McCutcheon, L. E. (2015). Self-stigma, self-concept clarity, and mental health status of Filipino LGBT individuals. North American Journal of Psychology, 17(2), 343-350.
