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Sarah Teal

Dr. Scott

PSYC 360

23 May 2022

Comparative Analysis

Living in a home with people you have never met, who speak an entirely different

language, who live entirely different lives than you do, who have a different culture, different

traditions, and diverse mannerisms can be terrifying at first sight. I planned to travel to Costa

Rica to learn more about the differences in the United States’ healthcare system and Costa

Rica’s. I also planned to learn more in depth about how mental health issues specifically are

assessed and treated in Costa Rica. However, I not only left with newfound knowledge regarding

Costa Rica’s healthcare system, but also with enriching insight regarding the daily lives of Costa

Ricans. This newfound knowledge and insight has allowed me to better compare the mental

healthcare system in Costa Rica to the mental healthcare system in the United States.

To begin, I found that overall the Costa Rican healthcare system provides more benefits

and more efficient results in contrast to the United States healthcare system. Ticos, or Costa

Ricans, appeared more satisfied with their healthcare system in comparison to the daily

American citizen. The Costa Rican healthcare system is a universal one and is known as the Caja

Costarricense de Seguro Social. It was interesting to see a bottle of “Rosa de Crema,” essentially

a sunburn cream, labeled with “CCSS” when my host mom gave it to me. It was a simple yet

interesting connection. I was able to first-handedly see what an average Costa Rican’s thoughts
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were. For example, my host Dad was able to briefly explain to me the ways of their healthcare

system. He mentioned how there were 7 different provinces which consisted of different medical

facilities, and I was able to connect this with something similar one of our lecturers mentioned.

He mentioned how cheap and accessible healthcare was for him. The director of API also

mentioned how a Costa Rican has about 10%, or about 20% for an employer, taken out of their

paycheck in order to cover healthcare costs. However, when asked about mental health, he

mentioned how Costa Ricans are “just happy.” This raised some cause for concern by me.

Moving on, a week spent in Costa Rica could easily result in one falling for the myth that

Costa Ricans are perfectly happy and relaxed all of the time. I immediately saw their Pura Vida

lifestyle when I arrived. From throwing our suitcases wherever would work on our bus, to the

generosity shown immediately by my host family. Living with a host family allowed me to truly

see the insight of what a true Costa Rican lifestyle consisted of. They do everything with a

go-with-the-flow mindset and are full of joy and genuine, pure kindness. This raises cause for

concern in collaboration with the director stating how a Tico is “just happy” and with how when

mental health was brought up in lectures, it was visibly a sensitive topic in Costa Rica. It allows

us to wonder if a Tico must carry the weight of uploading a Pura Vida, happy way of life. Similar

to Americans, I believe Ticos also carry shame with a negative mental health stigma, possibly

even more so than an American. However, I believe Americans are more aware yet still lack the

knowledge to properly assess and treat mental health issues.

Costa Ricans appear to face similar issues regarding lacking the knowledge to properly

assess and treat mental health issues. There is a definite lack of awareness and understanding in

both Costa Rica and the United States, but in my opinion it is more widely acceptable to deal
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with these issues in the United States. Reading 1 mentions how about 20,000 Costa Ricans

experience depression and much is due to technology. Reading 4 mentions adolescents feeling

hopeless. I have seen similarities with adolescents here in the United States. In the United States,

many older Americans live a fast-paced life and appear too busy to treat such issues. I saw a

definite difference between the way an average American’s daily life is to that of a Costa

Rican’s. With that being said, I do not believe Costa Ricans put aside the time to deal with

mental health issues in the way they should either.

It was enlightening to develop my own opinions from first-hand experiences as well as to

hear the personal opinions of Costa Rican healthcare providers. However, I would love to travel

back to Costa Rica sometime soon to further explore their mental healthcare system.