On the recordSeptember 21, 2011
I thank the gentleman. Mental health in our Latino community has been ignored for too long, especially in all minority communities but mostly in Hispanic. It's an issue that we need to take the stigma out of, because we don't want to hear it, we don't want to see it, and we certainly don't want to speak about it. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for Hispanic Americans aged 15 to 24, the 13th leading cause for Hispanics of all ages. To quote Mia St. John, three-time world boxing champion, Latina, affected by mental illness growing up and a strong mental health advocate, ``I was the first generation in my family born in America. All I wanted to be was American. I had stress and depression symptoms that professionals could have recognized as anxiety or psychosis. By the time I was 18 I was homeless and contemplating suicide.'' We have H.R. 751, the Mental Health in Schools Act, onsite mental health delivery services for our youth, which will save lives and give hope and shares the message to never be afraid or be ashamed to ask for help. I ask for support for mental health and H.R. 751.
