Recalling advances in mental health treatment

As part of the commemoration of 30 years of Línea Abierta and as part of the series 30 years, 30 voices, one of them is that of Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, who with his commitment to contribute to the Latino migrant community, especially Mexican, revealed the vulnerability of migrants in terms of mental health but also the antidote that has to do with culture and maintaining roots and language.

Radio Bilingüe news director Samuel Orozco revisits a conversation from three decades ago in which he unveiled the results of the largest mental health study conducted in the U.S. among Mexican-Americans.

Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, Founding Director, UC Davis Center for the Reduction of Health Disparities; Director, Community Engagement Program, Clinical and Translational Research Center; Professor of Medicine, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, recalls how they conducted the interviews amidst fear in the community when they were conducting the mental health study.

He recalls the risk and protective factors.

The study yields conclusions about the emotional disorders of the study, this is an audio of the conversation that Samuel Orozco had with Dr. Aguilar Gaxiola, is his voice 30 years ago.

Today he remembers that he founded the depression clinic in San Francisco, Ca. where he had first hand testimonies and immigrant patients with mental illness.

But he recalls that later in 1990 he returned to Fresno and began conducting the study on the mental health of Latino residents.

Dr. Sergio Aguilar Gaxiola, spoke to RB about the data that the study revealed 30 years ago in relation to those living in the city compared to those living in rural, suburban and migrant areas, he said at the time.

Today, Dr. Aguilar Gaxiola reflects that migrants are a population vulnerable to depression, but also vulnerable to depression.
vulnerable to depression, but they are also resilient.

Finally, he comments that those who maintain their roots and their culture present fewer illnesses such as depression and this finding is still valid and is centered on the phrase “Culture heals”.

Dr. Sergio Aguilar Gaxiola is one of the characters that have been an important part of LA’s 30 years of on-air service, he is part of our series 30 years 30 voices.