Mental and Emotional Health in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

Psychology and the science behind mental health have continued to advance and progress over the years, so much so that many countries have begun to implement policies, campaigns, and programs to destigmatize the need for mental health treatment. For the many Caribbean islands, the West Indies, and Latin America, the implementation process has been challenging at best, while most times considered a herculean effort. The inability to implement successful mental health services is due to various factors such as colonization, economic inequality, corrupt government, and mistrust of psychological programming. Specifically, within the Caribbean territories, mental health has faced delays in widespread acceptance. Psychological needs are diminished in terms of importance as untreated mental illness increases daily.To add further complexity, there are inconsistencies in terms of psychological services given the lack of trained mental health professionals, culturally appropriate resources, and inconsistent implementation. In order for there to be a successful development of psychology within Caribbean nations, there needs to be a better understanding of psychology and provision of services to the people of the region-preferably from people that look like them, speak their language or dialect, are able to implement a combination of mental health strategies, and can build trust within their patients.Throughout this chapter, we will examine the history of psychology and mental health as it has been introduced to the Dominican Republic (DR) and its people. A historical lens will reveal the many challenges, hindrances, and societal factors that impact the awareness, utilization, and implementation of reliable psychology within the Dominican Republic. A path forward and recommendations will be included for consideration to increase awareness of mental health service delivery options.