Nica-Emmanuel Delgado
Nica-Emmanuel Delgado, who uses they/them pronouns, is a sophomore anthropology major with a focus in cultural anthropology and minor in world literature, who attended middle school and high school in Lima, Ohio. They also serve as vice president of the Spanish and Latine Student Association. With little representation for Latinos in the mental health space, they felt it was important to speak up and participate in the campaign.
As I was growing up, my parents went through a long divorce and I was moved across the state. I showed very concerning symptoms of depression and anxiety, and I was very suicidal throughout middle school. So, my dad and my mom put me in therapy.
I don’t speak on behalf of all Latino families, but someone in my family, a wonderful person whom I spent a lot of time with growing up, doesn’t believe that things like depression, anxiety or ADHD [attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder] are real. I’ve heard similar stories from friends of mine who also identify as Latino: that their parents aren’t very understanding, or their grandparents are very judgmental.
It’s definitely a difficult topic to discuss with previous generations, but it’s also difficult to discuss in the open, because there’s not a lot of representation in the media for Latinos in general, but also of us speaking openly about our mental health and our well-being.
It’s difficult to share how you are feeling when the people you’re around the most don’t believe that what you’re experiencing is a real thing. It’s a challenge to overcome. But I’m proud to say that I have overcome it.
I was recommended to a therapist by my guidance counselor at school, and I’ve been seeing her for the better part of seven or eight years. It’s been great. She’s a regular part of my life; I see her once a month. Especially with people my age, it’s less like, “Oh, you’re going to therapy, that’s crazy,” and more like, “Okay, good for you, not for me.”
I will say if you’re looking for a therapist, obviously get recommendations. But I would stress the importance of in-person therapy appointments. I’ve done a couple Zoom appointments and they don’t feel as substantial to me, mostly because there are more distractions. And it leaves kind of an unsettling feeling when you remember, “Oh, I got all those feelings out while I was in my living room.”
But I want therapy to be an available and open option for everybody. Because a lot of people still have some of their own personal feelings towards how they would be seen if they were attending therapy. It’s 2023. We’ve been through a pandemic, and the economy is crashing, and the world is getting scary. I think having a professional in a neutral space, who can help guide you through your anxieties or whatever you’re feeling, I think that’s an important resource to be able to have.