Illustration by Rebeca Hernández.
Crime. Drugs. Post-pandemic anxiety. Greater awareness of mental health issues.
Whatever the reason, a higher percentage of Alhambra residents reported their mental health was “not good” in recent years.
Alhambra residents reporting poor mental health increased 31% between 2015 and 2021, excluding 2019 since data was not available that year, according to an analysis of UT Community information News. Common dataa Google initiative that brought together data from the CDC and US Census. The analysis also shows a 20% increase for Alhambra residents between 2018 and 2021 – which is higher than the 16% increase reported for Los Angeles County residents overall – again in excluding 2019.
More Alhambra residents have reported poor mental health in recent years. Visual by Arturo Orellana using CDC data collected by Google’s Data Commons tool.
Some Alhambra residents interviewed said the findings surprised them.
“I think the drug problem” could be one of the reasons for the increase in poor mental health, according to Désirée Bracamonet, a resident who wworks for the Alhambra Unified School District. Other residents suspect an increase in certain crimes like murders and assaults in recent years, the city can cause anxiety.“In recent years there has been an increase in crime and it is not safe to live here,” said Shirley Magee, a resident and student at Cal State LA.
One of the most tragic crimes of last year was a mass shooting at a Monterey Park dance hall and the suspect was later disarmed in another dance studio at the Alhambra.
That stuck in the minds of many residents, Alhambra resident Dana Ducto said. “That’s probably what’s happening with the news, with mass shootings like in Monterey Park,” Ducto said.
Mass shootings are unfortunately a phenomenon that Americans are very familiar with and they are no longer limited to schools. There have been mass shootings at churches, festivals and malls in recent years.
Parent education could be a solution, several residents said.
“The community is predominantly Hispanic and Asian and they’re not looking for help, but it’s a cultural issue,” Magee said.
Former Alhambra resident Elaine Pha, originally from Cal State LA studentsaid there is a lot of awareness about mental health, but the message has been slower to spread in some ethnic communities. Pha’s suggestion to local authorities: “Educate parents about mental health. The Alhambra is mostly made up of Asians and they don’t know much about it.
An analysis of Data Commons information shows that the highest population by race in Alhambra in 2021 was Asians, at 42,179. Next come Hispanics with 29,702 inhabitants, then whites alone with 16,457 inhabitants.
Each cultural community has historically dealt with issues in its own way, and mental health is no different.
Alhambra’s diverse population struggles with mental health in different ways, and sometimes residents’ backgrounds and cultures play a role. Visual by Arturo Orellana using CDC data collected by Google’s Data Commons tool.
