Culture gap

Among newcomers to this nation - one in eight Americans is now foreign-born - mental illness can be an alien, stigmatizing term, and many immigrants from Latin America, Africa, and Asia are far more likely to talk initially about physical ailments than seek psychiatric services.
Over the past several years, top mental health specialists have begun a number of new initiatives to improve psychiatric care for immigrants. The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, along with a team of researchers, are educating primary care doctors around the state about what physical symptoms might be signs of mental disorders.