An old adage came to mind while watching Puerto Rican music superstar Bad Bunny on the latest episode of “Saturday Night Live”: Behind every laugh is a kernel of truth.
And one skit in particular struck a chord, as two Latino characters bristled at the suggestion that a family member was seeking help for depression. A single phrase, played for laughs, summed up a disheartening reality about Latino culture’s attitude toward mental health.
Even though cookie jars may look like one thing on the outside, they may have a hidden secret inside.
In the sketch, “The Last of Us” star Pedro Pascal reprises his role as Mrs. Flores from “Protective Mom,” a sketch from a previous episode he hosted. This week’s sequel features Bad Bunny as Ms. Flores’ sister, Kia, and follows the structure of the original: when Luis (played by Marcello Hernandez) brings back his white girlfriend, Casey (played by Chloe Troast) , at home with her Latino family, her mother and aunt surreptitiously disapprove of the relationship, throwing Spanglish shade at her while reassuring her that she is not the topic of conversation. (“Saturday Night Live” is a product of NBCUniversal, the parent company of MSNBC.)
The skit begins with a light, culturally specific element: Casey gives Mrs. Flores a box of butter cookies as a gift. Pascal opens the box, empties the cookies and replaces them with sewing equipment – an instantly recognizable phenomenon for many Latin American households. After the beginning, the sketch turns into the main gag, as the sisters mock Casey in Spanish, often ending their remarks with an English phrase that arouses Casey’s suspicions. For example, when Casey says she works for her father’s nonprofit, Pascal launches into a tirade in Spanish that ends with “nepo baby“, joking that Casey buys all his food at Trader Joe’s while Bad Bunny comments on his “flat butt”.
The sequel also brings back another joke from the original, but with a twist. In the previous skit, when Luis’ girlfriend blurts out that Luis is taking medication for attention deficit disorder, Pascal retorts, “My son doesn’t have ADD.” He just likes to jump. In this sketch, when Casey mentions Luis’ depression, Pascal responds angrily: “My son does not suffer from depression. He just likes black.
Much like the cookie jar sewing kit, the joke resonated with many Latinos. Even though cookie jars may look like one thing on the outside, they may have a hidden secret inside. The same goes for many Latino families when it comes to mental health.
Some Latinos will avoid seeking mental health treatment, believing it might shame their loved ones.
Social stigma against seeking treatment for mental health has been well documented in Latin American communities. As a result, some people fear that a mental health diagnosis means they might be perceived as dangerous, violent, incapable of healing, or simply incapable of anything, according to Medical news today. This perception is extremely important here, as it can make the community response seem worse than the diagnosis itself. In some Latin American communities, the value of familism, or the family unit, may take priority over the needs of an individual. Because of this stigma, some Latinos will avoid seeking mental health treatment, believing that it could shame their loved ones.
That this stigma constitutes a barrier between Latinos and mental health care is alarming, especially given the rates of depression and anxiety among the many ethnic groups grouped under this umbrella. A 2014 study from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that 27% of Latin Americans reported high levels of depression, and 38% of Puerto Ricans alone experienced high levels of depression. These figures exceed concomitant depression rates nationally, although it should be noted that in recent years, given the state of the world, rates of depression in America have increased. A Study 2021 It is estimated that just under 7% of Latinos experienced a major depressive episode in 2019, representing up to 4.1 million people.
The 2014 study also found that while 27% of Latinos reported major depression, only 5% of the sample used antidepressants, a rate that varied depending on whether the respondent had insurance. In fact, structural issues like access to insurance can affect Latinos at every stage of the mental health journey. It is well known that, despite the assumption that mental health is an individual problem, structural inequalities and health disparities are a major factor in mental health, meaning Latinos, who suffer racial discrimination, low salaries and other structural problems, are more likely to develop mental health problems. And social stigma contributes to the likelihood that they won’t seek treatment as often as the general population, turning depression and anxiety into problems that can ultimately become debilitating.
It was only fitting that Bad Bunny appeared in a second outing of the “Protective Mom” sketch, since he was candid about his own experience with depression. In 2018, he released the song “We are fine“, as well as a message to fans on social media that read: “Often we are sad and we don’t know why and it’s just because we forget the simple things in life. I’m human just like you! And although I have achieved many big things, there are smaller ones that I have yet to achieve. And it’s these little things that give happiness. Bunny revealed to People en Español in 2021 that he put your career on hold from 2016 to 2018 to treat his depression.
Bad Bunny’s openness about his mental health breaks the taboo for Latinos. Seeing him humorously address the issue on TV was heartwarming, although Bunny’s plea makes it clear that there’s a lot of work to be done to make sure we can make it to the therapist’s office. Just as much work needs to be done by health care providers to ensure that mental health care is accessible, culturally competent, and able to understand the specific context of Latinos seeking mental health care.
