There’s a particular kind of pressure that comes with growing up Latino in the United States right now. You’re navigating a world that moves fast, looks different than our parents’ experience, and often sends mixed signals about who you’re supposed to be. At home, there may be an unspoken rule that you stay strong and keep moving forward. Outside, the conversation around mental health is louder than ever. And somewhere in the middle of all that, a lot of young people are quietly struggling.
The data makes it hard to look away or ignore. About 78% of Latino youth report experiencing at least one adverse childhood event that had an impact on their mental health, and they are 60% more likely to report poor mental health compared to their peers.¹ Thirty-seven percent have experienced depression, and 22% have seriously considered suicide.¹ And yet, Hispanic and Latino adults were 28% less likely than U.S. adults overall to have received mental health treatment in the past year.² Something is clearly not connecting.
As a Latina who has struggled with mental health since her teenage years, I can attest to the fact that finding the right tools was always a challenge. Whether it was finding the right therapist, websites or support circle that understood the notion of being a bicultural, bilingual, border kid. It always felt like a topic you had to whisper about and couldn’t ask about freely without getting marked negatively as someone with issues.
It’s tempting to point to stigma and leave it there, but the barriers go deeper than that, and as I evolve as an adult, I learn more. Yes, cultural stigmas around seeking care play a real role, alongside higher poverty rates, language barriers, a lack of bilingual providers, and limited access to culturally relevant services.³ For young people specifically, there’s something else happening. Many are living in intergenerational households where privacy doesn’t really exist. For Latino families who may have ten people under one roof, finding a space to have a private telehealth session can feel impossible.⁴ The resources exist in theory; accessing them in practice is a different story.
Which brings us to the big question: are the newer solutions, like telehealth, mental health apps, and peer support models, actually reaching young Latinos? The short answer is not consistently, and not yet at the scale we need. Only about 8% of U.S. psychologists are Hispanic,⁵ which means even when a young person is willing to seek help, finding someone who truly gets their cultural experience is unlikely, which I personally experienced years ago. Hispanics are also less likely than any other group to have heard of the 988 mental health hotline,⁶ pointing to a gap in basic awareness, not just access. While digital tools hold real promise, only about 19% of youth overall have tried a mental health app,⁷ and engagement rates are even harder to sustain in communities where trust in institutions runs low. As an adult, I continue to see this when seeking help that I connect with. I have the advantage of being in a border town and having the option of turning to the neighboring town (Tijuana) for the help I need, from providers that understand my experiences.
That said, there are reasons to be optimistic about where things are heading. Research shows that Hispanic families find telehealth delivery of trauma-focused therapy both effective and culturally acceptable, and that it helps overcome barriers related to stigma and access.⁸ NIMH is currently funding digital tools specifically designed for Latino, Black, and Asian youth, like the 4Youth platform, which aims to connect young people with mental health care through school-based wellness centers and primary care practices.⁹ Community-based approaches are also gaining traction. Research out of Oregon shows that Latino youth respond better to trusted members of their own community, including peer support workers who share their culture and native language, and they also engage more with storytelling formats and ‘fotonovelas’ as educational tools.¹
So where does this leave healthcare brands and marketers? There’s a real role here, and it’s bigger than just running a bilingual campaign during Mental Health Awareness Month. A 2024 RAND evaluation of Los Angeles County’s mental health awareness campaign found strong reach among Hispanic adults, but noted that youth specifically need different messaging, with a focus on community and mobilization rather than just information.¹⁰ That’s an important distinction. Young Latino consumers aren’t looking to be talked at. They’re looking for brands that show up in their spaces, speak their language (literally and culturally), and reflect their actual lives back to them.
Healthcare brands have a window right now to be part of a real shift. That means investing in culturally grounded creative, partnering with community organizations and peer networks, and building campaigns that treat mental health as something to be talked about openly, not managed quietly or as a “family secret”. The conversation is already happening among young Latinos and can be seen on display across social media more openly. The question is whether healthcare marketers are paying close enough attention to join in with the right message that resonates.
References
1. Salinas, A. (2024, May 15). Opinion: We need to talk about mental health in the Latino community. Office of Representative Andrea Salinas. https://salinas.house.gov/media/editorial/opinion-we-need-talk-about-mental-health-latino-community
2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health. (2025). Mental health and Hispanic/Latinos. https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/mental-and-behavioral-health-hispaniclatinos
3. UnidosUS. (2024, March 23). Rompiendo barreras: Dismantling barriers to Latino mental health care. https://unidosus.org/blog/2024/03/23/rompiendo-barreras-dismantling-barriers-to-latino-mental-health-care/
4. James, G., Vasudeva, K., & Franklin, M. (2024). Building equitable mental health care for Latino children: Perspectives from providers and communities. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 12(3), 1598–1611. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11745160/
5. PrairieCare. (2025, December 4). Hispanic and Latino young adult mental health. https://prairie-care.com/hispanic-young-adult-mental-health/
6. Weitzman Institute. (2024, September 25). Improving mental health treatment options and outcomes for Hispanic populations in the U.S. https://www.weitzmaninstitute.org/improving-mental-health-treatment-options-and-outcomes-for-hispanic-populations-in-the-u-s/
7. Poll, M., et al. (2023), as cited in: Borghouts, J., et al. (2021). Digital interventions in mental health: An overview and future perspectives. PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12051054/
8. Comer, J. S., et al. (2024). Telepsychiatry, access, and equity: Accelerating mental health care for rural and low-income youth. PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12626871/
9. Salud America. (2025, April 10). The need for mental health resources for Latino youth. https://salud-america.org/the-need-for-mental-health-resources-for-latino-youth/
10. Collins, R. L., DiGuiseppi, G., Eberhart, N. K., Roth, E., & Matthews, S. (2024). Evaluation of Los Angeles County’s 2024 Take Action for Mental Health social marketing campaign. RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3569-2.html
