This past weekend I attended the East Coast Asian-American Student Union conference at Harvard University. One particular panel resonated with me — a discussion of mental illness in the Asian-American community. The stigma against treating mental illness found in Asian-American culture is a serious problem that must be addressed to create an environment in which Asian-Americans feel comfortable seeking help.
According to a national youth survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 29 percent of Asian-American high school students said that they felt “sad or hopeless” for extended periods of time, enough so that their daily lives were interrupted. This number is slightly higher than the national average at roughly 28 percent. In addition, the CDC reported that 19 percent of Asian-American students had seriously considered suicide in the past year — higher again than the national average of 16 percent. The same report indicated that four percent of adolescent Asian-Americans attempted suicide within the past year — twice the national average for all students. In spite of these figures, a national survey found that Asian-Americans under 18 years of age are less likely to seek professional treatment than whites, African-Americans and Latinos. In fact, according to a study done by the California Asian Pacific Islander Joint Legislative Caucus, Asian-Americans utilize mental health services approximately half as frequently as the general population, despite showing high rates of depression and suicidal thoughts. This alarming juxtaposition prompts us to ask — why?
While a stigma around discussing and treating mental health exists across several cultures, the Western Journal of Medicine notes that it is “particularly relevant to Asian-American patients.” Many other medical professionals and journals assert the same. Because of deeply imbedded values in their cultures, many people of Asian descent are extremely hesitant to admit that they may struggle with their mental health — much less seek professional treatment for it — as it is not traditionally considered to be a serious issue in many Asian countries. When Asians immigrate to the United States, they naturally many will raise their children with the values to which they are accustomed. Thus, if their children start to suffer from depression or any other mental disorder, they do not know how to deal with the problem. To many Asian-American parents, mental health illnesses are not real illnesses, an integral part of why Asian-American teens often fail to seek treatment, even when they direly need it. This may be because traditional Asian views on health do not divide mental and physiological health problems, as the Western Journal of Medicine also noted. One way to combat this barrier is by promoting mental health awareness among newly immigrated Asian-Americans.
Traditionally speaking, Asian culture promotes suffering in silence. Instead of admitting that they have a problem, many Asian-American youths choose to suppress any problems they might be experiencing and simply pretend that they are perfectly okay. Many Asian-American teens face pressure from their parents to be successful. To admit mental illness in this environment would be to admit weakness — and as a 2007 CNN article reported, this “push to achieve” can have drastic consequences on the mental health of Asian-Americans.
This same CNN report cited that the Asian-American “model minority” stereotype is a leading factor in mental health problems. I agree that this harmful, widely-held stereotype is primary reason for the continued prevalence of the stigma surrounding mental health. Many may see an Asian-American teen who gets straight A’s and never guess that he or she is actually suffering from debilitating depression. After all, Asian-Americans are supposed to be perfect. They couldn’t possibly be deeply troubled.
The thing that many people fail to understand, however, is the fact that this expectation from society hurts those students by preventing them from speaking out and admitting that they have a problem. In addition to increasing mental health awareness among the Asian-American community, we as a society must relentlessly work to overcome the cultural stigma that prevents Asian-American youths from seeking mental health treatment.
