By Xenia Shih Bion, California Health Care Foundation, March 16, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic and its social and economic consequences have hurt many people’s mental health. They have had an outsized impact on the mental health of young adults, many of whom have experienced closed schools, lost income, and social isolation. Fifty-six percent of people between 18 and 24 years old reported symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder — a larger share than other adult age groups, according to KFF. Latinx and Black adults, whose communities have experienced disproportionately high rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths, have been more likely than White adults to report such symptoms.
Colombian-American actor Diane Guerrero wants to open up the conversation about mental health, especially among young people of color. While she is best known for starring in the HBO Max series Doom Patrol and appearing in two other TV series, Orange is the New Black and Jane the Virgin, Guerrero is also an author and activist. When she was 14, she returned home from school one day to find her parents and brother gone from their Boston home. Their cars were in the driveway and her mother had started dinner, which was still cooking on the stove. Guerrero, an American citizen, realized that her family had been detained and would be deported. The US government never sent anyone to check up on her, so she was effectively left to fend for herself as a young teenager. Her parents never returned to the US and remain in Colombia.
Separated from her family, Guerrero struggled with severe depression, suicidal ideation, alcohol use disorder, and shame over what had happened to them. Gradually, she focused on acting, started therapy, and spoke out about her experience. Now she wants to help other people talk about their mental health journeys. Two weeks ago she launched a podcast, Yeah No, I’m Not OK, in collaboration with LAist Studios, a podcast producer for Southern California Public Radio. The podcast is supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Angell Foundation, and CHCF. Every week, Guerrero explores issues like addiction, depression, and anxiety with friends, colleagues, activists, artists, and health care professionals. In the first episode, she talks to her big brother Eddie about their family history of addiction, anxiety, and depression. In the second episode, she interviews Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, author of The Undocumented Americans and one of the first undocumented students to graduate from Harvard University, about her exploration of identity and mental health.
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