2023-08-13 19:12:55
It is estimated that there are between 13 and 14 million left-handed people in Mexico, that is, around 10% of the total population.
To date, the causes of this condition are unknown, but it is suspected that it could be a hereditary issue.
Since 1976, August 13 has been designated International Left-Handed Day.
Scientific evidence shows that the left handed people they can develop the same skills and grow in conditions similar to those of right-handed people. For this reason, mastering activities with the left hand or foot should not represent a cause of stigma or discrimination, specialists from the Ministry of Health (SSa) agreed.
Why is this condition generated?
The researcher in Medical Sciences of the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery (INNN) “Manuel Velasco Suárez”Yaneth Rodríguez Agudelo said that the causes of left-handedness are unknown, but it may be a hereditary issue.
In Mexico, it is estimated that there are between 13 and 14 million people with this condition, that is, about 10 percent of the total population.
The INNN specialist specified that public institutions are working to create awareness among the population about the respect that left handed people and eliminate false beliefs around this condition.
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For an inclusive society where all people can function in any field without discrimination.
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Yaneth Rodríguez explained that decades ago they suffered stigma and discrimination because society attributed it to bad behavior or had the false belief that they represented sin. Little by little these myths and prejudices have been banished.
The inter-institutional coordinator of the National Commission on Mental Health and Addictions (Conasama), Luis Alberto Salinas Torres, specified that left-handed people use the left and right hemispheres of the brain. This allows some of them to be ambidextrous, that is, to use both hands or feet with equal precision and firmness.
“Great left-handed characters in sports, science, politics and music have been benchmarks to gradually eliminate the stigma and social prejudices against this sector.”
He dismissed that the left-handed people are affected in their self-esteem when processing their emotions due to fear, stress, anxiety or depression. There is also no evidence that they suffer from trauma, frustration or suffer from mental problems. He specified that mental health problems depend on individual, family and social context factors.
There are still myths and stigmas against left-handers
Salinas Torres recognized that in some areas there may still be beliefs or myths that stigmatize left-handed people and hinder their development. The greater knowledge and scientific and technological advances allow more and more progress in this area.
Since 1976, August 13 commemorates the international left-handed daywith the purpose that the population has information based on scientific evidence about this condition and reduce the difficulties that these people encounter in a predominantly right-handed society.
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