BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Tomas Martinez -- Public Information Officer for the California Highway Patrol -- is Mexican-American, and like many others, grew up in a household where mental health struggles were not acknowledged.
“The culture that comes with it you know whether for the men it’s the machismo where we you know we feel that, hey we’re men we don’t cry, we don’t complain, we just work hard, and that’s it, and we don’t express our feelings or emotions,” said Public Information Officer for the California Highway Patrol Tomas Martinez.
Martinez says though these attitudes are pervasive -- he hopes things will change as more people become educated about the importance of mental health.
“We need to bring the awareness to it, and you know just help the younger generation, let them know hey it’s okay you can talk about whatever you want to talk about, and that’s the only way we are going to make that change, if not we’re going to keep having these issues with our culture of just you know a lot of people that have mental health issues,” said Martinez.
Stacey Kuwahara the Director for Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services says these attitudes are not unique to Mexican-American culture.
“There's a lot of mistrust in some of our minority communities around health professionals generally. A number of reasons for this, but this can be a real barrier for people feeling comfortable to reach out and get help,” said Director for Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Stacey Kuwahara.
Kuwahara says there are resources to help with mental health -- and though there might be emotional barriers -- she hopes people will break through them to get the help they need -- through a variety of methods.
“You can chat with somebody over text, you can chat with somebody over the internet, you can connect with resources for mental health services through our phones, and through video,” said Kuwahara.
Martinez says growing up the way he did had a lasting impact on him, and going into a career in law enforcement -- it was difficult to seek help.
Martinez also adds focusing on mental health is important to maintaining a healthy relationship with yourself, and others.
“Seek help there’s nothing wrong with that, and maybe seek someone you can confide in and go through about it that way is what I have seen helped other people as well when they don’t want to contact or seek the help directly, but seek it through someone else you know is also very helpful, but there is resources out there,” said Martinez.
If you or someone you know is having a mental health crisis you can dial 988 to speak with someone immediately.
