Women attempt suicide three times as often as men, according to the National Center of Injury Prevention, and young Latinas and elderly Asian-American women are at even greater risk. (NY) According to city and state health officials testifying at a state Assembly hearing yesterday, access to mental health services for these women is sometimes lacking, because of language barriers and insufficient training among community health providers in spotting mental illness. "Hispanic adolescents think about suicide at an alarming rate," Sharon Carpinello, commissioner of the state Office of Mental Health, said. "Forty-six percent of Latinas reported they felt sad or hopeless; one in four seriously considered attempting suicide; and, according to the [Centers for Disease Control], one in six attempted suicide." For Asian-American women over the age of 65 in the city, two out of five suffer from depression — twice the rate of other women in their age group —and they have the highest suicide rate of that group, Carpinello said. These women are difficult to reach because Asian-Americans don‚t use mental health services as often as other minorities, according to state data. "Culture accounts for variations in how people communicate their symptoms and which ones they report," Carpinello said. "It bears upon whether one seeks help in the first place, what types of help they seek, what coping styles and social supports they have and how much stigma they attach to mental disorders."

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