Table Of ContentChicana and Chicano
Mental Health
THe MexiCan aMeriCan experienCe
adela de la Torre, eDiTOr
Other books in the series:
Mexican Americans and Health: ¡Sana! ¡Sana!
Adela de la Torre and Antonio L. Estrada
Chicano Popular Culture: Que hable el pueblo
Charles M. Tatum
Mexican Americans and the US Economy: Quest for buenos días
Arturo González
Mexican Americans and the Law: ¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!
Reynaldo Anaya Valencia, Sonia R. García, Henry Flores,
and José Roberto Juárez Jr.
Chicana/o Identity in a Changing US Society: ¿Quién soy? ¿Quiénes somos?
Aída Hurtado and Patricia Gurin
Mexican Americans and the Environment: Tierra y vida
Devon G. Peña
Mexican Americans and the Politics of Diversity: ¡Querer es poder!
Lisa Magaña
Mexican Americans and Language: Del dicho al hecho
Glenn A. Martínez
Chicano and Chicana Literature
Charles M. Tatum
Chicana and Chicano Art: ProtestArte
Carlos Francisco Jackson
Immigration Law and the US–Mexico Border: ¿Sí se puede?
Kevin R. Johnson and Bernard Trujillo
Chicana and Chicano
Mental Health
Alma, Mente, y Corazón
Yvette G. Flores
Tucson
© 2013 The Arizona Board of Regents
All rights reserved
www.uapress.arizona.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Flores, Yvette Gisele.
Chicana and Chicano mental health : alma, mente, y corazón / Yvette G. Flores.
pages cm. — (The Mexican American experience)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8165-2974-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Mexican Americans—Mental health—
United States. 2. Mexican Americans—Psychology. I. Title.
RC451.5.M48F56 2013
616.89008968972073—dc23 2012044803
Publication of this book is made possible in part by the proceeds of a permanent endowment
created with the assistance of a Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities, a federal agency.
Manufactured in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper containing
a minimum of 30% post-consumer waste and processed chlorine free.
18 17 16 15 14 13 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my ancestors in the seven generations before me, those whose names
and histories I know and those for whom there is no trace, no name, but
whose historical legacies led me to my path.
To my parents, Aura Maria Perigault Medina de Flores (QEPD/RIP), and
my father, Claudio Angel de la Rosa Flores Santamaria (QEPD/RIP)
To my aunt Olga Houed de Flores (QEPD/RIP)
To my children, Xochitl Maria Ortiz Henninger
and Alejandro Esteban Ortiz
To my stepchildren, Britt A. Ortiz
and Brigitte M. Ortiz DeMille
To my granddaughters, Lei-Lahni Xitlali Henninger Ortiz
and Naturelle Idolly Henninger Ortiz
And to the next seven generations that will come forth
COnTenTs
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 The Mental Health of Chicana and Chicano Children 15
2 Adolescent Mental Health 33
3 Gender and Mental Health: Depression, Anxiety, and Substance
Abuse among Chicanas 52
4 Los Hombres: The Negotiation of Grief and Pain 76
5 Sexualities 100
6 Mental Health and Aging: Finding Balance en la Tercera Edad 122
Conclusion: Chicana/o Mental Health in the Twenty-first Century 137
Works Cited 143
Index 165
aCknOwleDGMenTs
This book could not have been written without the support and
encouragement of Adela de la Torre and my colleagues in the
Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at UC Davis, my
academic home for the past twenty-three years. My appreciation to Angie
Chabram, Miroslava Chávez Garcia, Carlos Francisco Jackson, Sergio de
la Mora, Natalia Deeb-Sossa, and Maceo Montoya, whose commitment
to interdisciplinarity and social justice nurtures my soul. To my colegas y
hermanas (colleagues and sisters) Beatriz Pesquera and Ines Hernandez-
Avila, who have walked along the academic path with me and were always
there to watch my back. To the teachers and professors who inspired me
throughout the years, Grace Chacón de Jaikel, Olene McCrary, Dave Cal-
oca, Amado Padilla, Lonnie Snowden, James C. Coyne, and my mentors in
graduate school and beyond, most particularly Ricardo Muñoz, Guillermo
Bernal, and Carmen Carrillo.
To the comadres who inspired, supported and filled in so that I could
write—Regina Armas, Lesleigh Franklin, Rosa Granadillo-Schwent-
ker, Ellen Lanzone, Marisol Reyna Duarte, Vilma Wilcoxen, and Susan
Wilde—and the compadres who continue to throw light on the path—
Ricardo Carrillo, Sebastian Espinola, Marcelo Esteban, Samuel Tabachnik,
and Hector Rivera-Lopez—your clinical skills, solidarity, and resilience
have nurtured and inspired me. You constitute my familia of choice.
I am indebted to the hundreds of students and psychotherapy clients
who taught me most of what I know. You have demonstrated that the
spirit can be wounded but never destroyed. I hope that I have honored
your stories and experiences in this book.
There are many people who have touched my life, among them Rebecca
Carrillo, Cristiana Arruda (RIP), Christian Brother, Camilo Chavez, and
Margaret Santos; your stories, conversations, and time shared challenged
my thinking and strengthened my commitment. W. Ladson Hinton and
Enriqueta Valdez Curiel, your solidarity and research partnerships have
enriched my intellect and academic and personal life. Yolanda Martins,
Emilia Moreno, Gibran Guido, Monica Siañez, Elizabeth Covarrubias, Rosa
Manzo, Oscar Ureño, Marta Flores, and Rosa Velia Gomez-Camacho,
the new generation of scholars who will carry on the good fight, you give
me hope.
