Crying Out For Help

Jocelyn Gray, left, talks with Ana Martinez about a friend: "She was having trouble with her parents," Jocelyn says. "She asked me, 'Why should they care? I don't even care about myself.'" (Lois Raimondo - The Washington Post)

Paula knew no English as she started high school. At home, she was expected to keep her aunt's house clean, wash the dishes and do the laundry. Overwhelmed early one evening that first year, she sought out a bottle of high-dose Motrin, a painkiller, and took one pill. This past September, it was two pills. She was looking at the bottle, wondering whether to take more, when a good friend called and she told him what she was doing. The friend came over, took her to the emergency room and stayed with her until her mom arrived.

Therapists see this pattern frequently: A girl chooses something a parent wouldn't notice -- a pill or two, a light scratch with a sharp instrument. The next time it's two or three pills or a deeper cut, then more. With each attempt, the girl is more likely to die, which is why early intervention is critical.

Though not foolproof.

Paula found a counselor early. Her mother and aunt made efforts to talk to her more. Her boyfriend, currently a student at Montgomery Community College, started visiting more often and has plans to move to New York in June. Yet like the other girls, Paula remains very aware of her own vulnerabilities.

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Social worker Hausman, herself a Latina, worries about girls like Paula who come from lower-income homes. She wonders about their mental health long-term, given the continuing conflict in their families and lack of outside resources. Their schools and neighborhoods need preventive mental health services more attuned to Hispanic culture, she says -- starting with parenting classes.

"In middle- and upper-class families, success is expected," she says. "If a child's mental health interferes with success, it tends to be noticed earlier. Low-income parents don't expect anything of their girls. Every middle-class mother tells me she wants her daughter to be a professional at 24, married with three children. These mothers want their girls to do the laundry." ¿

News researcher Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report. Comments:steppl@washpost.com.