Episode 10: Living in Survival Mode: Why Latinas Facing Homelessness Experience Simultaneous Health Crises
Between 2015 to 2019, unsheltered homelessness increased among two populations: women and Latinos. Homelessness carries a social stigma, and getting help is difficult because people do not disclose how much they’re struggling. But housing insecurity—overcrowding, doubling up, and moving often—can be traumatizing and have life-long impacts on a person’s health and well-being. In this episode, reporter Vicky Diaz-Camacho explores the cultural taboos of homelessness and the link between housing instability and overall health of Latinas.
Episode 9: Embracing the Latina Experience with ADHD Pt. 2
In part 2 of this episode, reporter Carmen Marquez explores the challenges of receiving a correct ADHD diagnosis, the cultural misconceptions that prevent parents from acknowledging the illness, and how embracing a diagnosis can lead to self-empowerment and healing.
Episode 8: Embracing the Latina Experience with ADHD Pt. 1
Being diagnosed with ADHD can feel like a complicated and isolating experience—but for Vanessa, her ADHD diagnosis as a 28-year-old Latina gave her much-needed clarity. Vanessa spent most of her life questioning why "simple" tasks were so challenging. She knew something was not right, so she sought out a psychiatrist who specializes in anxiety disorders.
In this episode, reporter Carmen Marquez explores the challenges of receiving a correct ADHD diagnosis, the cultural misconceptions that prevent parents from acknowledging the illness, and how embracing a diagnosis can lead to self-empowerment and healing.
Episode 7: Meet the Latinas Who Are Reconnecting with Ancestral Medicine
Nearly 80% of Latino youth suffer childhood trauma, but many don’t start actively healing and acknowledging adverse childhood events until later in life – often when they start showing up as physical symptoms – stomach pains, headaches, racing heart rates. Some Latinas are starting to recognize the inextricable link between the mind and body, and reconnecting to ancestral medicine to heal. But in the process of offering a deeper healing, compassionate practice to their communities, they are also discovering the depth of problems created by a Western medical system that centers profit over care.
Episode 6: How Latinas Experience Anxiety, Depression, and Trauma
Nearly 21.4% of Hispanic and Latino adults report having a mental illness. In this episode, Juleyka Lantigua, the creator of our show, sits down for a roundtable discussion with two mental health practitioners to discuss some of the most prevalent mental health issues among Latinas and to unpack how Latinas understand and cope with their mental wellbeing. Generalized anxiety disorder, major depression, and PTSD––the panel gets into it all. Gabriela Livas Stein, PhD, is Professor and Chair of Human Development and Family Sciences at UT Austin. and the Principal Investigator at CAMINOS Lab. Catalina Fortich, MS, LMFT, is a clinician in private practice and owner of Safe Place Therapy.
Episode 5: Caring for Latina Mothers in Prison, Part 2
This is Part 2 of a special two-part episode of 100 Latina Birthdays. After serving 10+ years in prison, Destiny and Diana had to adjust to a new life outside of prison. From finding a new job, to rebuilding relationships, and learning to regulate their emotions, returning to the community, their families, and their kids was often an overwhelming experience. Reporter Francesca Mathews investigates why Latinas impacted by the carceral system often struggle with isolation and cultural disconnection, and the negative impact on their physical, mental and emotional health.
Episode 4: Caring for Latina Mothers in Prison, Part 1
The negative health impacts of incarceration on Latina mothers and their families are profound and long-lasting, even beyond a release from prison. Destiny and Diana were incarcerated during their transition from adolescence into adulthood and motherhood, so they had to learn about their bodies and reproductive health, as well as their physical and mental wellbeing in the dehumanizing setting of prison. Francesca Mathews documents the journey of two Latina mothers impacted by incarceration, and dives into the health implications of the medical neglect, and the psychological and emotional trauma many women experience behind bars. She also speaks with medical experts, community organizations and counselors on the outside who are working to improve the wellbeing of women as they transition into the community and rebuild their lives.
Episode 3: What Does it Mean to Be a Healthy Community?
In Chicago, there are 77 community areas ranked by their social vulnerability index, a tool that helps explain how underlying health disparities can make some Latino neighborhoods more vulnerable in the face of environmental or man-made disasters. Reporter Francesca Mathews spends time in the southwest side speaking with residents and advocates, like organizers from the Chicago Environmental Justice Network and the LIttle Village Environmental Justice Organization, about the health impacts of past disaster on the local communities, and what government officials can do to help them be more resilient.
Episode 2:The Ups and Downs of Psilocybin Mushrooms as Mental Health Treatment
The popularity of "magic mushrooms" or psilocybin is on the rise. While its use has been decriminalized in very limited contexts in some states, it remains illegal in most of the U.S. Journalist Carmen Marquez reports on Chicago and LA-based Latinas who are raising awareness about the potential of these psychedelics to heal, to nurture, and to connect us with our roots.
Episode 1: Learning to Live With Endo Pain, Part 1
This season we’re documenting the health, wellness and lifetime outcomes of Latinas between the ages of 20 and 40.
This is Part 1 of a special two-part episode of 100 Latina Birthdays.
29-year-old Mariela "Ella" Vazquez was diagnosed with endometriosis at an unusually young age, and figuring out how to understand and address her physical symptoms became a lifelong journey. Journalist Julia Binswanger reports on Ella's personal experience understanding her body and her pain, and investigates why it can take adult Latina women so many years to receive a correct diagnosis after the onset of symptoms.
Episode 1: Learning to Live With Endo Pain, Part 2
This is Part 2 of a special two-part episode of 100 Latina Birthdays. If you haven’t listened to Part 1, we suggest you do that first. Mariela "Ella" Vazquez had a hysterectomy at age 11, after being diagnosed with endometriosis. As an adult, like many Latinas with this condition, Ella had to learn not just how to manage her chronic pain, but how to speak about it openly with loved ones. Reporter Julia Binswanger documents Ella's personal journey and speaks with medical experts about why the pain of many Latinas endo patients is not taken seriously and the significant implications this can have on their health and wellbeing.