For many scientists, communicating their research involves turning data into history. However, for Laura Vargas, PhD, MSW, MPA, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, her data is now history.
Vargas’ lab is primarily in the field, where she interviews Latin American immigrants fleeing violence and poverty about traumatic experiences in their countries of origin and along their migratory routes to the United States. The data in these stories helps Vargas understand how individual characteristics—such as gender, age, sexuality, education, and country of origin—affect trauma exposures and their impacts.
Vargas brings her training as a scientist and practice as a social worker to her research.
The ultimate goal is to use knowledge of mental health vulnerabilities among Latin American immigrants in the United States to improve the development and delivery of the right treatment, for the right person, at the right time.
Roots, sensitivity feed her passion
Vargas said her bicultural upbringing influenced her passion to integrate the power of stories with the rigor of science to understand mental health vulnerabilities among Latin American immigrants.
She was born and raised in Mexico to an American mother and a Mexican father. Her family has always opened their doors to immigrants passing through, and she empathizes with those who feel compelled to leave their country and adapt to new cultures.
There’s a big misconception among Americans that all immigrants want to come to this country, said Vargas, who recently spent two months at the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Center in McAllen, Texas, a high-volume crossing point. immigrants at the US-Mexico border. .
Typically, ‘plan A’ for Latin Americans trying to escape violence and poverty is to first go to a different part of their country, while ‘plan B’ is traveling to a neighboring country due to proximity and similarities in language and culture, Vargas. said. If these choices prove unworkable, then they can try ‘plan C’ – the perilous journey north to the United States.
‘Immigrants have a target on their back’
Given the prevalence of drug trafficking, gang activity and political violence in Latin America – the region with the highest homicide rate in the world – trauma is common among immigrants arriving at the US border. Even as they leave home-based danger, they encounter constant threats along their way to a safer place.
The South American migrants must pass through a treacherous 60-mile stretch of dense rainforest, rugged mountains and vast swamps called the Darién Gap, a roadless and lawless passage that separates Colombia in South America from Panama. in Central America. It is littered with dead bodies, a harbinger of the many dangers that lurk, both from nature and from armed guerrillas. The dangers do not stop for those who survive the Darién Gap or have just begun for those who depart from Central America.
“Migrants have a target on their back throughout the journey,” Vargas said. “Every smuggler, every extortionist, every robber, every abuser, who will they prey on? People who have no protection. But they may have some resources because they have to get somewhere else.”
When reflecting on the stories she heard while in McAllen and on her motivation to pursue this research, Vargas explained that migration has always been and will continue to be a part of the human experience. This is because all of us, regardless of where we were born, seek happiness, health and dignity.
“Life always finds a way”
So vital is the need for these basic human rights that migrants overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to reach the US-Mexico border. Stories include the Haitian father who carried his disabled son 8,000 miles from South America. And the 20-year-old woman who fled gang violence in Honduras, was kidnapped in Mexico, escaped after three weeks and then lost her legs in a train accident. Both eventually reached the border.
“It’s crazy. You don’t believe it. But it’s true,” said Vargas. “Life always finds a way out, like the plants that grow outside the sidewalk. The incredible thing about the people I meet is that they understand their circumstances. They know they will be targets. They know they are not welcome. Immigrants will tell you: ‘I know I’m not welcome and I probably wouldn’t blame these societies for not welcoming me, but I have no choice. I have to survive’”.
Vargas’ current research focuses on understanding individual characteristics that influence mental health challenges among Latin American immigrants. But in the future, she aims to use this knowledge to identify which points of intervention matter most and for whom. It aims to help change upstream systems to prevent downstream mental health problems.
She explained that to effectively reduce health inequities, the focus must be on systemic change rather than a “pull yourself up” emphasis on individual initiative. “That’s essential because you can paddle and put on and put on and never go upstream if you’re too far downstream,” she said.
Structural inequalities that have been prevalent throughout history underlie the horror stories Vargas hears. The human condition, she said, is often not the product of personal choices, but of a system designed to concentrate disadvantage rather than distribute opportunity.
However, she said these systems can be changed, which gives her hope. But we must have the will, Vargas said. We must see all people as equally deserving of the happiness, health and dignity that so many people risk everything to find.
Guest Contributors: Chloe Page, PhD, and Korrina Duffy, PhD, Department of Psychiatry
