Mental Health in Caribbean Families | What We Don't Talk About – Part 1

CULTURE BY PEOPLE MAGAZINE

"You Have Nothing to Be Depressed About"

By Keke Mohan

If you grew up in a Caribbean household, you've probably heard something like this:

"You have food, clothes, and a roof over your head. What do you have to be depressed about?"

I heard those words more than once growing up in Guyana.

For years, I believed them.

I convinced myself that because my life wasn't the worst, my feelings didn't matter.

I was wrong.

Mental health isn't something we talk about much in many Caribbean families.

Sometimes people don't believe depression is real.

Sometimes they think you're just being dramatic.

And because of that, a lot of us stay silent.

That's why I wanted to start this series.

Over the next ten weeks, I'll be sharing stories and conversations about topics we don't talk about enough in Caribbean culture.

My hope is that these conversations help someone feel seen and remind them they aren't alone.

For me, it starts with mental health.

Looking Back

Looking back now, I realize I had been struggling with depression since I was about ten years old.

At the time, I didn't know what depression was.

I just knew something didn't feel right.

It was just my mom and me.

She worked incredibly hard to make sure we had what we needed.

We didn't have much, but she always did everything she could to provide for me.

My father wasn't part of my life, so there wasn't anyone else to lean on.

"You Have Nothing to Be Depressed About"

As I got older, I started trying to explain how I felt.

Instead of feeling understood, I usually heard the same response.

"Keke, you have nothing to be depressed about."

"You have food."

"You have clothes."

"You have a roof over your head."

After hearing those words enough times, I started believing them.

I convinced myself that my feelings didn't matter because my life wasn't "bad enough."

But That's Not How Depression Works

Depression doesn't care whether you have money or whether your basic needs are met.

It doesn't compare your struggles to someone else's.

It affects people from every background, and it looks different for everyone.

From the outside, I probably looked fine.

On the inside, I wasn't.

I wasn't just sad.

I was angry.

The Things I Carried

I stopped enjoying the things that once made me happy.

Sleeping became difficult.

My weight constantly changed.

Some days, I felt completely unworthy.

A lot of those feelings came from things I carried for years.

I struggled with the fact that my father wasn't in my life.

Watching my mom work so hard while we still faced financial struggles broke my heart.

I compared myself to other girls who seemed to have everything I wished I had.

Little by little, comparison, loneliness, and disappointment pulled me into a very dark place.

Healing

There were days when I smiled and laughed.

But those moments didn't erase what I was feeling inside.

Today, I can honestly say that I'm doing so much better.

Healing didn't happen overnight, and it definitely wasn't easy.

Learning to ask for help changed my life.

It taught me that struggling doesn't make you weak, and reaching out doesn't make you a burden.

If You're Reading This...

If you're reading this and you've felt like your emotions don't matter because someone else "has it worse," I want you to hear this:

Your feelings are valid.

Your struggles are real.

And you don't have to go through them alone.

There are people who will listen without judging you.

There are people who care about you.

Healing is possible, even if it doesn't feel that way right now.

Thank you for reading the first post in this series.

I hope you'll come back next week as we continue talking about the conversations our community often avoids—but desperately needs to have.

Questions to Think About

1. Have you ever been told that your feelings didn't matter because someone else had it worse?

2. Why do you think mental health remains difficult to discuss in many Caribbean families?

3. Which part of Keke's story resonated with you the most?

4. What conversations do you think our communities need to have more often?

About the Author

Keke Mohan is a Guyanese writer and contributing writer for Culture by People Magazine. Through her series, What We Don't Talk About, she shares personal stories that encourage honest conversations about mental health, family, identity, and healing within Caribbean communities.

About This Series

What We Don't Talk About is an ongoing series by Keke Mohan exploring conversations often left unspoken in Caribbean communities. New installments will be published weekly in Culture by People Magazine.