Crime. Drugs. Post-pandemic anxiety. Greater awareness of mental health issues.
Whatever the reason, a higher percentage of Alhambra residents reported their mental health is “not good” in recent years.
Alhambra residents reporting poor mental health grew by 31% from 2015 to 2021, excluding 2019 since data wasn’t available that year, according to a UT Community News analysis of information from Data Commons, a Google initiative that gathered the data from the CDC and U.S. Census. The analysis also shows a 20% increase for Alhambra residents between 2018 to 2021 — which is higher than the 16% increase reported for L.A. County residents overall — again excluding 2019.
More Alhambra residents reported poor mental health in recent years. Visual by Arturo Orellana using data from the CDC that was collected by Google’s Data Commons tool.
Some Alhambra residents interviewed said the findings surprised them.
“I think the drug problem” could be one of the reasons for the increase in poor mental health, according to Desiree Bracamonet, a resident who works for the Alhambra Unified School District. Other residents suspect that an increase in certain crimes like murders and assaults in recent years in the city may be causing anxiety.“In recent years, there’s been an increase in crime, and it’s not safe to live here,” said Shirley Magee, a resident and a student at Cal State LA.
One of the most tragic crimes in the past year was a mass shooting at a Monterey Park dance hall and the suspect was later disarmed at another dance studio in Alhambra.
That has stayed on the minds of many residents, said Alhambra resident Dana Ducto, “Probably what’s going on with the news, with the mass shootings like Monterey Park,” Ducto said.
Mass shootings are something Americans are sadly very familiar with and they are no longer limited to schools. There were mass shootings at churches, festivals, and malls in recent years.
Educating parents could be a solution, several residents said.
“The community is mostly Hispanic and Asian and they don’t seek help, but that’s a cultural thing,” Magee said.
Former Alhambra resident Elaine Pha, who is a Cal State LA student, said there is great awareness of mental health but it has been a slower message to disseminate in some ethnic communities. Pha’s suggestion for local officials: “Educate parents about mental health. Alhambra is mostly Asian people and they don’t know much about it.”
An analysis from Data Commons’ information shows that the highest population by race in Alhambra in 2021 was Asians with 42,179 residents. Next came Hispanic people with 29,702 and then white alone at 16,457 residents.
Each cultural community has historically dealt with problems in its own ways and mental health is no different.
Alhambra’s diverse population grapples with mental health in different ways, and sometimes residents’ background and culture plays a role. Visual by Arturo Orellana using data from the CDC that was collected by Google’s Data Commons tool.
