0:31

Welcome to Expats Like Us . When

0:33

I quit my job and retired to Mexico , I

0:36

was so looking forward to everything

0:38

I associated with this part of the country Great

0:40

weather , great beaches , great food

0:42

and all the time I needed to enjoy

0:44

it all . So I did . The first year

0:47

was so exciting . We made so many friends

0:49

and did so many things and had tons

0:51

of new experiences . Going to the beach

0:53

, drinking margaritas , trying new

0:55

restaurants , navigating all the strange Mexican

0:58

systems took up most of our time . The

1:01

second year , however , I began to

1:03

have some problems . To make a long

1:05

story short , the beach wasn't new anymore

1:07

, the margaritas didn't taste as good

1:09

as they once did , and I was having

1:11

increasing trouble sleeping at night

1:13

. If you've ever experienced an

1:15

extended period of insomnia , you

1:18

know how awful that can be . I

1:20

soon found out that what I was experiencing

1:23

was more complicated than just

1:25

insomnia . My guest

1:27

for this episode is one of the people who

1:30

helped me through this tough period

1:32

. This episode is one of the people who helped me through this tough period . Doctora Navarro

1:34

is a psychiatrist in Playa del Carmen . I

1:42

am so excited she agreed to be on this podcast and I hope my story and her advice can

1:44

help other people who may be experiencing some of the same feelings that I had

1:46

. I know it helped me . Following

1:49

her interview , I will have a list of some

1:51

mental health resources that are

1:53

available in English for expats

1:55

throughout Mexico . So stick around . Welcome

2:02

to Expats Like Us exploring

2:04

the world of US expat life in

2:06

Mexico . In each episode we'll meet

2:08

new people and hear their personal stories

2:10

. We'll also learn more about the expat

2:12

life and get a few tips on everything from

2:14

making your move to settling in and

2:17

living your dream . Let's dive in . I'm

2:25

your host , bob Bussey . Today I'm thrilled

2:27

to be talking with psychiatrist Dr Kitsia

2:30

Ruiz Navarro . Dr Kitsia

2:32

lives and practices in Playa del Carmen

2:34

. She's trained as a surgeon and holds degrees

2:37

in effective and bipolar disorders

2:39

and psychiatry from Ramon

2:41

de la Fuente National Institute of Psychiatry

2:44

, and she's certified by

2:46

the Mexican Council of Psychiatry . Dr

2:49

Kitsia describes herself as proudly Mexican

2:51

, originally from Mexico City and

2:54

happily from Playa del Carmen . She's

2:56

also a leader and a fighter for social issues

2:58

. I met Dr Kitsia after experiencing

3:01

chronic sleeplessness , which turned out

3:03

to be a symptom of depression in my case

3:05

. Thank you , dr Kitsia

3:07

, and welcome to Expats Like Us .

3:10

Thank you very much . It's

3:12

a pleasure to be here with you today .

3:14

So tell me what first interested you in

3:16

a career as a psychiatrist .

3:20

There's something in humans that make us being

3:23

us and no one else

3:25

, and it's not the brain , it's not

3:27

the heart , it's not our background , and

3:30

since the beginning , I

3:32

had a lot of interesting to understand

3:34

. What was that ? Unfortunately

3:37

, by the time pass , I

3:39

understood that there is no answer with that

3:41

, but the mystery of

3:43

the brand , it's something that makes

3:47

me wake up every morning and do my job

3:49

, like , like and

3:51

that's it . I I always

3:53

say that the mind is like a universe

3:56

, a big , big universe

3:58

, and we only know only

4:00

like a start we can see with a telescope

4:03

and that's it . So a lot of

4:05

things to , to , to

4:07

, to research , to understand

4:10

, and every

4:12

day something new in my practice

4:14

, and that's what I like a lot about psychiatry

4:16

.

4:16

So how long have you been practicing ?

4:19

Like about 18

4:25

years .

4:26

Oh , okay . Yes , a

4:28

lot of years , a lot of years , and

4:30

there's still just as much

4:32

mystery involved in the human mind , as

4:34

there was when you started .

4:35

Yes , but the more I know , the

4:37

less I think I know Like .

4:53

So Playa del Carmen , where you practice

4:55

and it's nearby where I live , it's

4:57

a relatively young international

4:59

city with residents from all over the world living

5:02

here . Do you find that this environment

5:04

lends itself to any mental health issues

5:07

that may not be so prevalent in other

5:09

places ?

5:11

Yes , playa del Carmen has something very peculiar

5:14

and it's different . I always

5:16

say that there is Mexico and Playa del

5:18

Carmen , or Mexico and Quintana Roo

5:20

. Quintana Roo is a place that was

5:22

built by immigrants , not

5:24

only international immigrants , also by

5:26

people of other places of

5:29

Mexico . So it's very

5:31

difficult to find a sense of community

5:33

here and most of people

5:36

arrive here alone and loneliness

5:38

is something that by sure it's

5:40

like a risk factor for mental disorders

5:43

. So it's not easy

5:45

to get used and to get involved

5:47

and make this community

5:50

that at the end , we

5:52

need to have community . So

5:54

, yes , people can stroll

5:56

a lot by the time they arrive here

5:58

, especially after certain

6:01

months .

6:02

Yeah , I've never thought about that , but this area

6:04

it's a young place , basically

6:07

it's . You know , Quintana Roo

6:09

became a state in the 70s sometime , so

6:11

there's nobody that has five generations

6:13

of family and support structure

6:15

here . I've never thought of that before

6:18

.

6:19

And Playa . It's a place that people

6:21

come and go Like

6:23

they can come work , stay

6:26

like a couple of months and then leave and they

6:28

go to a different place . So

6:31

it's a very unstable place

6:33

to settle .

6:35

Right . So describe your clientele

6:37

. Are they primarily immigrants from

6:39

other countries ? Are they native Mexicans or

6:42

is it a mix of both ?

6:43

I think it's a mix of both Some days

6:46

and it's something I like a lot

6:48

at my job , because some days

6:50

I only see Mexicans , but other days

6:52

I can begin with the Russian , and then with the

6:54

Spanish , and then with the Italian

6:56

and then with the Chinese , so

6:58

it's very interesting . At

7:02

the end of the day , it's a very multicultural

7:04

, very cosmopolitan

7:06

city , so I see people from

7:08

almost all the world Right . I see people

7:10

from almost all the world .

7:12

Right .

7:15

So there is no difference

7:17

between being a forgain immigrant

7:19

, like coming from USA

7:21

or Canada , and coming from Mexico City

7:23

or Monterey . At the end , everybody's

7:26

an immigrant here .

7:28

Right , right . I've

7:30

never thought about that . I look from being only here for

7:32

three years now , you

7:35

know . I look and say oh , this , this , this

7:37

person is , is a native here , but not

7:40

many people are .

7:42

No , actually , actually I'm an immigrant . I'm an immigrant

7:44

. I have been 12 years living here . I'm from Mexico

7:46

City , so so , yes , we're

7:49

everybody's immigrant .

7:51

Yeah , okay . So

7:57

I've heard that there are some problems or disorders that anyone can suffer from , but

8:00

maybe they're more prevalent in the expat or immigrant population

8:02

. And why is this ? You may

8:04

have touched on that Is the support structure

8:06

.

8:07

Yes , like according to

8:10

the city , and coming to a new place

8:12

with a different language , different culture

8:15

. I think that anxiety and adaptative

8:17

disorders are some of the

8:19

things that I see the most Like

8:22

all this

8:24

. I mean not depression

8:26

, not anxiety , but is the stress

8:29

about coming to a new place with new

8:31

people , with new job , with new culture . It's

8:34

the stress of coming to a new place with new people , with new job , with new culture , and there

8:36

is no like a different prevalence from other

8:38

place in the world .

8:39

Actually , Like

8:46

we know that anxiety and depression are the most common psychiatric disorders in the world

8:48

. So when you say adaptive disorders I guess I didn't know that

8:50

term really that's when you have

8:52

a major change in life . Is that what that is ?

8:54

When you have a major change , exactly . You have a major change

8:56

in your life and you can have symptoms that are

8:58

compatible with a depression

9:00

or with an anxiety disorder , but

9:02

they are not as intense

9:05

to give medication

9:07

or they don't interfere in your

9:10

functionality as a depression

9:12

or anxiety disorder can do .

9:14

Okay , well

9:17

, everybody that we talked to on this podcast

9:19

has adapted

9:23

to some big changes in their life . Yes , and

9:26

mostly just in the last few years .

9:29

Yes , especially when you

9:31

come here to a new place

9:33

and you

9:35

begin your retirement .

9:38

Right .

9:38

Not only moving to a new place , it's

9:41

also that .

9:42

It's a double change .

9:44

It's your work , life changes and your home

9:46

changes Exactly . From one day

9:48

to another , you stop with your routine

9:51

of 25 , 30 years and

9:54

the first months I always say that it's like a

9:56

honeymoon . It's like you're in

9:58

the place you dream all your life

10:01

. You have the beach , you have the

10:03

sun , you have a beautiful weather . And

10:05

by the month's passes it's like and

10:08

now what ? So

10:10

it's very easy to lose the purpose in

10:12

the days Right , and that's a risk

10:14

factor for depression and anxiety . It's

10:17

like now , what am I going to do ?

10:19

I remember you very well telling me the exact

10:21

words the honeymoon is over .

10:25

Yes , and it's when we began to

10:27

see anxiety , depression

10:29

, and another thing that is very common

10:31

here , especially after

10:33

retirement , is like alcohol

10:35

abuse also . You

10:37

can begin the party at 11 in the morning

10:39

and end at 2 am in the morning

10:42

, yeah , because you feel

10:44

that you're on vacation , so

10:46

it's very easy also to

10:48

get involved with alcohol , right

10:51

? And it's another thing that I see a lot like

10:53

a lot of alcohol abuse .

10:54

I bet , yeah , I

10:57

see it too . I'm

10:59

not a psychiatrist , but I can diagnose

11:01

it , you know .

11:04

in my head .

11:07

So I know that there are people who move here that

11:10

begin to feel what they may describe

11:12

as anxiety . Can you describe

11:14

what anxiety is , where it comes

11:16

from and what it feels like , and

11:19

what's the difference between anxiety

11:21

and depression ?

11:24

I have a very short like short

11:27

long story to describe anxiety

11:29

. Anxiety is like living in a

11:31

hurry , with a feeling that someone

11:33

is behind you , that you need to to end

11:35

things very fast , and

11:37

with the feeling that you are uh , that

11:41

you are forgetting to do something

11:43

, like being worried

11:46

about almost everything

11:48

and also small things

11:50

and you're

11:53

not able to focus in one situation

11:55

. It's like that's anxiety

11:57

or that's living with anxiety . What

12:00

happens with anxiety is that we get used to

12:02

that , like

12:05

someone that lives some people have

12:07

anxiety exactly

12:09

, exactly because they are going

12:11

to the next thing . And

12:14

we get used to live like

12:16

that until something

12:19

changes in our body and we begin

12:21

to struggle in our days . We

12:24

lose our functionality , for

12:26

example , with panic attacks where

12:29

we're not able to sleep , and

12:32

if we don't sleep by sure we are going

12:35

to feel terrible the next day . If

12:37

we have a lot of nights

12:39

without sleeping , I mean

12:41

life can be a disaster . Or

12:44

if you stop eating or

12:46

you are so irritable that you don't

12:48

want to be with anyone or you're just

12:50

fighting with everybody everywhere

12:53

, like those are the most

12:55

common symptoms of

12:57

anxiety . Also , like being worried about small

12:59

things . It's like , ah , I need

13:01

to go and pay my CFE

13:03

bill and go

13:05

into the bank and pay the bill . It's like

13:07

something extremely big

13:10

. It's like we began

13:12

to see things bigger than they are

13:14

. We are thinking all the time

13:16

in the worst scenario in the future

13:18

. We feel that we can think

13:21

what other people is thinking , or we take

13:23

things very personal , like

13:25

that's society like in

13:27

general , I think as an immigrant

13:29

, there's an additional factor that goes

13:31

with that .

13:32

Like I have to go pay my SEFE bill , but

13:34

I don't know Spanish , you know

13:36

?

13:37

Exactly .

13:39

The things that we talked about

13:41

on this podcast with people about things they

13:43

have to adapt to . That's . One of the main

13:45

things is paying your

13:47

bills and doing that sort of thing

13:49

and the bureaucracy that you deal with with

13:52

the government and everything . It's extra

13:54

hard for immigrants because

13:56

they don't know the language .

13:59

Let me explain you something . Don't

14:01

feel so bad because , also

14:03

as a Mexican , when we

14:05

arrived here are very difficult things

14:07

. I mean , quintero works

14:09

very different than other cities in Mexico

14:12

. As you said , there is a lot of bureaucracy

14:14

, a lot of bureaucracy

14:17

, and even though

14:19

we speak Spanish , it's something difficult

14:21

for us to get used to that .

14:24

Right , I had a friend

14:26

. We went to get our driver's licenses

14:28

renewed the other day and

14:30

they wanted her to . They started asking her

14:32

questions about like a driving test

14:34

, and it was in a dialect

14:37

of Spanish . She's a native Spanish speaker

14:39

but she grew up in the United States

14:41

and it was in a dialect she didn't understand

14:43

and , oh my God

14:45

, that was . That's some stress and anxiety

14:48

right there .

14:49

Yes .

14:50

She did end up getting her license , but and

14:52

they didn't ask me quite they knew better than to ask

14:54

me questions in Spanish , because that wouldn't have worked

14:56

out at all yes

14:58

, this , it's difficult and , as you said

15:00

, it's like something more .

15:02

I mean you have like more stress right

15:05

, right .

15:06

So I've heard that often people think they're suffering

15:09

from anxiety , but maybe they're

15:11

suffering from depression . What are the

15:13

differences between the two and what are some

15:15

symptoms people might have that

15:17

may be signs of either anxiety or

15:19

depression , and what are the differences ?

15:21

Most of the times , anxiety and depression

15:24

comes in a combo . Okay , that's

15:26

just how our brain works . I

15:29

already explained what anxiety is , but

15:31

when we keep that levels of anxiety

15:34

very high , in one moment we're

15:36

going to begin feeling like

15:38

sadness that it's there all the

15:40

day , almost every day . You

15:42

have motivation . We

15:46

like you can eat

15:48

more or eat less . You can also have sleep

15:50

disturbances . You stop enjoying

15:52

what you used eat less . You can

15:54

also have sleep disturbances . You

15:56

stop enjoying what you used to enjoy . You abandon yourself

15:59

and in a very advanced moment you can also have

16:01

suicidal thoughts and

16:03

, on the other hand , you can begin having

16:06

depression and in a certain moment

16:08

you're going to have some symptoms of

16:10

anxiety right right and

16:12

the reason is how our brain works between

16:14

adrenaline and serotonin and a lot of

16:16

like more technical things , that it's

16:18

going to be a little bored , but but

16:21

but most of the time they come together

16:23

would you say that anxiety

16:25

is ?

16:26

would anxiety be maybe considered a precursor

16:28

to depression , something that you

16:31

know ?

16:32

most of the time , if you don't have like the right treatment

16:34

? Would anxiety be maybe considered a precursor

16:36

to depression ? Yes , most of the time , if you don't have the right treatment

16:38

for anxiety at a certain moment , you're

16:40

going to feel depression . And let me make a pass here we are humans

16:43

and we have emotions and we can have good days

16:45

and bad days and we can have griefs

16:47

and we can have stressful situations , that

16:51

in certain moments we're going to feel sad . But

16:53

feeling sad sadness is not

16:55

depression . I mean depression

16:57

also comes with other symptoms and

17:00

as the same as anxiety . When we are

17:02

not able to do the things

17:04

that we need to do , when our

17:06

functionality gets like

17:08

damaged , it's when we

17:10

talk about depression , not

17:12

only sadness . Sadness is not enough .

17:27

In my personal situation , my

17:29

main symptom that brought my

17:31

attention to anything was insomnia . I couldn't

17:33

sleep , and it's like you

17:35

just said . You know , you go a night without

17:37

sleeping , that's a problem , but you go

17:40

a whole bunch of nights without sleeping , it's a . It

17:43

is quite a thing to deal with , right

17:45

? But the way I saw it , my

17:47

lack of sleep was what was causing

17:49

me anxiety , which was something

17:51

I really didn't understand , you know

17:53

, until I talked to you and talked

17:56

to doctors about it . I went to several medical

17:58

doctors looking for something to help me sleep

18:00

. I was looking for some kind of pill that would put me to sleep

18:02

, and it didn't help

18:05

. I didn't find anything like that . You know , I

18:07

didn't have any luck , anything

18:10

like that . You know , I didn't have any luck . And then one of them referred me to you and

18:12

it turns out that the underlying cause of my sleeplessness

18:14

was actually a form of depression . So

18:17

I do I , you know . You know , my experience

18:19

with this is probably better than I do but

18:22

do you find that many of your clients

18:24

go through that similar journey ?

18:26

Yes , sleep disturbances is one

18:28

of the first symptoms when our brain

18:30

is not able to repair

18:33

all the changes that we can have

18:35

when we suffer from

18:37

depression or anxiety , and

18:40

why we just pay

18:42

attention to the sleep pattern

18:44

. Because if we don't

18:46

sleep the next day we can feel

18:48

terrible , not only mental

18:51

but also physical . So most

18:53

of the time we go to the doctor asking for something

18:55

to sleep , thinking

18:57

in our fantasy that by the time we sleep we

18:59

can feel better . And yes , yes

19:02

, but there are symptoms that we need to take care

19:04

about . There are

19:06

sleep disorders , like in psychiatry

19:08

. There are also psychiatrists that specialize just

19:10

in sleep disorders and it's another

19:12

world inside psychiatry

19:15

but they are not as common as

19:17

we think , like when we talk about

19:19

insomnia . Most of the

19:21

time insomnia

19:23

it's a symptom of anxiety

19:26

and depression , a primary

19:28

disorder of the sleep . It's

19:35

not so common as we can think , but it's something we have

19:37

or we can identify better than

19:40

other symptoms that we

19:42

can have when we have

19:44

anxiety or depression .

19:45

Right , right . So

19:48

in my case , treatment involved counseling

19:51

and medication for about six

19:53

months . It also involved

19:55

finding a worthwhile purpose in my retirement

19:58

, which actually is one of the key themes

20:00

to this podcast that we're doing right now . This

20:02

is we kind of talk with

20:04

you . Know , we go in a roundabout fashion

20:06

. We don't say , are you depressed ? But we say

20:08

so , what is your passion in life ? And that's

20:11

what we try and encourage amongst , amongst expats

20:13

. Um , so

20:16

my symptoms eventually went away and I was

20:18

back to my old self . And do

20:20

you find this is the case with most of your clients

20:22

?

20:23

no , no , you were like a very

20:25

good patient , and , and

20:27

, and you followed instructions and you

20:29

and you did what , what

20:31

I suggested you to do , and

20:33

that's why you succeed so

20:35

fast and in a very short

20:38

time period , like you

20:40

, began paying attention to your sleep pattern

20:42

, to your diet , making exercise

20:44

, going also

20:47

to psychotherapy and

20:49

finally you got

20:51

your purpose in

20:53

this new city

20:56

, in new circumstances , and that's

20:59

why you succeed . I

21:01

hope everybody were like you .

21:05

That would be the ultimate goal . Right is to have

21:07

more people that come through that on

21:09

the other end .

21:16

Believe it or not , there is a lot of resistancy to make changes right , like like

21:18

. Remember that as humans , we are always going to do what we know how , what we

21:20

have been doing all of our life

21:22

. But sometimes we forgot

21:25

that we're in a different moment of our lives

21:27

and we are still moving in

21:29

the same direction , thinking that everything

21:32

is going to change and it's just about

21:34

time . So it's

21:36

very important to begin taking the

21:38

risk to do the things different

21:41

so you can have different results , and

21:43

not everybody can understand that so easily

21:45

as you did . That's why you

21:47

succeeded so fast .

21:49

Very good , thank you . So if someone

21:51

thinks they're suffering from symptoms of anxiety

21:54

or depression , where should they turn for help

21:56

? What's the first thing they should do ?

21:58

I think that any approach to a

22:00

certificate medical health care

22:02

, mental health care it's like

22:04

they can identify

22:07

what you need , like if you need to go to

22:09

a psychiatrist or you need just

22:11

therapy or , most

22:14

of the time , both of them . What

22:17

we need to be careful about

22:20

living here is that you

22:22

can find a psychologist in any corner

22:25

of the city , but

22:27

you need to be sure that they have the right certifications

22:31

right right because

22:33

sometimes there's

22:35

another thing , like it's very peculiar

22:37

from this place and it's like something that I

22:39

call the shanty shanty . Here

22:42

you have , or you can find , like a lot of

22:44

magical thoughts about

22:46

energy , about ayahuasca

22:49

, about chamanes , like and

22:51

it's very common that people go there

22:53

before coming right . They're

22:56

looking for the crystals to solve their

22:58

problems rather than psychotherapy

23:00

or whatever exactly something I hear a lot

23:02

every day is like I'm coming here because

23:04

you're at my last option , I've had

23:07

done all the alternative therapies

23:09

. Nothing works , so just go

23:13

into a professional . It

23:15

doesn't matter if it's psychologist or psychiatrist

23:18

, if it's something , if

23:20

it's an ethical professionalist

23:23

, he or she can refer

23:25

you to the treatment that you need okay

23:29

, very good , if you had advice for

23:31

anyone thinking about retiring and moving to

23:33

Mexico , like I did .

23:34

I retired young . I retired earlier

23:37

than most people retire . But

23:40

if they're moving to Mexico , or anywhere in the world

23:42

for that matter , what would your advice be

23:44

and what are some things they may

23:46

not be thinking about ?

23:48

Okay , okay , before

23:51

talking about retire , I will give

23:53

an advice . Don't forget to enjoy your life

23:55

by the time your retirement comes , because

23:59

unfortunately , I also see a lot of stories

24:01

of people that their dream was like retire

24:03

and coming here to Rivera Maya and

24:06

achieving that goal . They

24:11

didn't pay attention to the health

24:13

, to the family , to relationships , and

24:15

now they are here in the place they

24:17

wanted to be , but alone and sick .

24:20

Right .

24:20

Oh , yes , yes , Thinking of retirement

24:23

. It's perfect

24:26

. I plan about that , but

24:28

don't forget to enjoy the

24:31

road to go there . That's my

24:33

first advice Don't forget to live

24:35

every day . And

24:38

once you retire , it's like we need to understand

24:40

that at the end it's a grief , it's

24:42

a different moment of our life and

24:45

when we have a grief it's valid

24:47

to feel what we need and

24:49

what we want to feel we

24:53

are not only like stop

24:55

seeing our friends , our

24:57

community , of all our life

24:59

. We're also like

25:02

moving to a new place

25:04

. So we need

25:06

to be compassionate with ourselves . So

25:10

, yes , we're going to feel sadness and sometimes

25:12

we're going to be like very happy , and

25:14

sometimes we can cry and it's OK

25:16

. It's OK not to be OK

25:19

. Yeah , right , and living that

25:21

process and

25:23

give up , give ourselves to

25:25

, to , to , to , to close

25:27

like that cycle of our

25:30

work and productive

25:32

life and

25:34

begin something new

25:37

, it's new . I

25:39

always say that retirement is like going

25:41

to school the first day of school .

25:45

Yes , yeah , you're starting something brand

25:47

new that you don't even know what you're

25:50

going to learn or what you're going to do yet

25:52

.

25:52

Exactly , but as children we

25:55

are not so complicated and we are

25:57

always open to learn new

25:59

things . So it's the same

26:01

attitude that we

26:03

can have in the retirement , like

26:07

I'm going to let the life to surprise me and

26:09

I'm going to be open to learn how

26:12

this new adventure in life

26:14

goes without pushing

26:16

the things . And

26:19

that's it Like don't try

26:21

to do what you used to do before your

26:23

retirement .

26:26

Right , right , I

26:29

would agree with you and I learned

26:31

a lot from you , and you are one of my most admired

26:33

people that I've met since I moved here

26:35

. I just want to say that , so , so

26:38

, one of the things that we do , we have

26:40

a lighthearted tradition on this podcast

26:42

and we call it uh K

26:44

padre , k malo , and

26:46

it's like we ask our guests one thing

26:49

that they love about living in this area and

26:51

they love about Mexico or Quintana

26:53

Roo , or whatever , and

26:59

the other one is Que Malo , something that not necessarily that they hate , but something that

27:01

they're still adapting to is the way that we like to say it . So could you give

27:03

me a Que Padre and a Que Malo

27:06

?

27:06

Okay , a Que Padre is that there's

27:11

no traffic . Well , there is more

27:13

than 12 years ago that I arrived here , but

27:16

it's like I can go from one place to

27:18

another without being

27:20

hours in my car . Like

27:23

that's a que padre .

27:25

Unlike Mexico City right .

27:28

Mexico City . You

27:31

can stay three hours in your car just

27:33

going from one place to another

27:35

. So so that's a que

27:37

padre and a

27:39

que malo . It's

27:44

a very hard question yeah and

27:47

I'm going to explain you why . I'm

27:49

sure you want an answer from me , but but

27:52

if

27:54

I just pay attention to the que mal

27:56

, I'm not going to be able to enjoy the

27:58

good things that I have here .

28:00

You won't be able to enjoy the Que Padre yes

28:02

.

28:03

And I know that moving from Mexico

28:05

City to here , there

28:08

were a lot of things that I'm not going to have . But

28:11

you can have everything , at least

28:13

not at the same time .

28:15

Right .

28:16

Or maybe the Kemalo . It's like that

28:18

cultural life

28:22

that you can have in Mexico City , like

28:24

museums , theater , like

28:26

concerts , like a lot of things

28:29

. I think that will be the Kemalo , but

28:31

it's not so Kemalo . Yeah

28:33

, I have other things here .

28:36

I completely understand what you're saying , because

28:38

we used to love , you know , plays

28:40

and concerts

28:42

and that kind of thing , and it's just not something that's here .

28:45

You cannot move to a new place like

28:48

thinking all the time in all the things you left

28:50

Right , right .

28:52

Things you don't have .

28:53

If not , you're not going

28:55

to be able to adapt to a new place . So

28:57

, yes , there are a lot

28:59

of Kemalos , but they are small

29:01

Kemalos . There are more good things

29:04

than bad things .

29:05

Right . That's why you're here , I would totally agree . Well

29:08

, thank you so much , dr Kitsia Ruiz

29:10

Navarro , for sharing your insights with us

29:12

on expats like us .

29:15

Thank you . To you , it was a pleasure to be here and

29:17

congratulations for this space

29:20

and to share experiences

29:22

with other expats .

29:24

Very good . Thank you so much . Thank

29:26

you to you . Bye-bye , bye . From

29:30

my personal experience , the best mental health

29:32

care begins with your own medical doctor

29:35

. That's how I was referred to , dr Kitsia

29:37

. It's a great place to start . Here

29:39

are some more mental health resources available

29:41

in English for expats in Mexico and

29:43

around the world . Ola Therapy

29:46

is a team of international and multidisciplinary

29:48

therapists . They're based in Mexico City

29:50

and work primarily with the international

29:52

community . They offer therapy in English

29:55

and Spanish . Their services include

29:57

individual therapy , couples therapy

29:59

, family therapy and working with children

30:01

and teens . They are an inclusive service

30:04

as well , being LGBTQ

30:06

plus friendly and welcome people from

30:08

all walks of life . You can find them at

30:10

holatherapymx that's

30:13

H-O-L-A-T-H-E-R-A-P-Y

30:16

dot M-X BetterHelp

30:18

, where you can tap into the world's largest

30:21

network of credentialed and experienced therapists

30:23

who can help you with a range of issues , including

30:26

depression , anxiety , relationships

30:28

, trauma , grief and more . With their

30:30

therapists , you get the same professionalism

30:32

and quality you would expect from an in-office

30:34

therapist , but with the ability to communicate

30:37

when and how you want . They're

30:39

found at BetterHelpcom

30:41

. Onlinetherapycom

30:44

is based on Cognitive Behavioral

30:46

Therapy . They're a dedicated online-based

30:48

team of consultants , therapists , cognitive

30:51

behavioral therapists , practitioners

30:53

and support staff that work collaboratively

30:56

to help people in need of emotional

30:58

support . You can find them at onlinetherapycom

31:02

. In

31:04

each episode of Expats Like Us , we're

31:06

going to teach you a new Mexican slang

31:08

word . This is something you may not find

31:10

in your phrasebook or your online Spanish

31:13

class or your Spanish app or wherever

31:15

you're learning your Spanish . Instead , this

31:17

is a term used primarily by

31:19

Mexican Spanish speakers . Today's

31:23

word is Naco

31:26

. Naco , how do you spell

31:28

that ?

31:29

N-A-C-O .

31:30

N-A-C-O Naco . What does that mean

31:32

?

31:32

Naco is basically a person who

31:34

is not well-educated , ghetto

31:37

, clumsy , doesn't know what's going on .

31:39

Okay , very cool . Don't be a NACO

31:41

. Don't act like you're a NACO .

31:44

Exactly .

31:45

All right . Gracias to Erica Kowalski

31:47

from Mi Vida Margarita . We'd

31:53

love to hear your thoughts on today's topic . Just

31:56

look up Expats Like Us on Facebook

31:58

or send us an email at expatslikeus

32:01

at gmailcom . You

32:03

can also see the video version of today's discussion

32:05

and all of our discussions on our YouTube

32:07

page . Follow , like , subscribe

32:10

and leave us a review . Thank

32:20

you to today's guest , dr Akitsia

32:22

Ruiz Navarro , for sharing her insight

32:25

. Thanks also to Chris and Erica Kowalski

32:27

and Sherry Bussey . Most of all

32:29

, thank you for tuning in to Expats

32:31

Like Us and thank you for interacting with us on social

32:33

media . Next time , we'll bring you for tuning in to Expats Like Us and thank you for interacting with us on social media . Next

32:35

time , we'll bring you more firsthand information

32:38

about your international move . We'll

32:40

see you again in two weeks . Until

32:42

then , remember our homes are not defined

32:44

by geography or one particular location

32:47

, but by memories , events , people

32:49

and places that span the globe .