Suicide is the leading cause of death for Asians aged fifteen to twenty-four (Noor-Oshiro). Many Asian Americans suffer in silence from mental health issues and are not taken seriously by others. Mental illness has become an epidemic for many young people, but Asian Americans have been impacted the most. After the recent COVID-19 pandemic, depression diagnoses rose 104%, while anxiety disorders rose 97% among Asian Americans (Chin). Young Asians face racism and discrimination, along with pressure from their families. These stressors lead to anxiety and depression. Harmful stereotypes and high expectations lead to a large number of young Asian Americans experiencing anxiety, and the stigma surrounding mental health means that most of these people …show more content…
Getting a high-paying job or going to a good college becomes the priority; if someone cannot achieve these goals, they have not succeeded, and they must try harder to meet these expectations. This causes worries about the future and the feeling that whatever they have accomplished is not good enough. In “Stress, Stressors, and Academic Performance among Asian Students in Central California”, Miguel A. Perez describes academics as a prominent stressor for many Asian students. He dictates that they often “place their self-worth at stake” and they determine their level of worth based on their successes and failures. This is derived from perfectionistic goals Asian students place on themselves, which include excessive concern over making mistakes, self-doubt, and whether their performance met up to their expectations” (Perez et al.). Traditions in Asian culture place importance on how well a person does in school. When someone’s identity is based on their grades, they feel as if their sense of purpose solely depends on how much they …show more content…
Family members and the roles they play in a community are large parts of Asian culture. Every person has a different role depending on their age and status. To be a part of a family while also having a mental illness implies that the family as a whole is flawed. This is due to the assumption that mental illness is something that the individual chooses to have, unlike a physical problem. Asian Americans are forced to keep quiet about any anxiety or strong emotions they face, as it would go against the culture they have been raised with for their whole lives, along with bringing shame to their family and their community. Stereotypical assumptions and unattainable goals of perfection lead to a disproportionate number of Asian Americans struggling with anxiety, and the cultural stigmas that surround mental health silence those who have a mental illness. Understanding the causes of anxiety can help manage it. Challenging these stereotypes, stigmas, and outdated values can not only lower rates of anxiety, but it can also allow those suffering to feel comfortable seeking help. No group of people should be more susceptible to mental illness because of their
Dr. Stanley Sue is an Asian American clinical psychologist whose research focus is on Asian American minorities. Dr. Sue was born in Portland, Oregon and was the third of six children to his Chinese immigrant parents. As a child “his first career ambition was to repair televisions, but soon he got bored with shop classes. Then, he developed great fascination with psychotherapy and the idea of helping emotionally disturbed individuals (Rockwell 2001).” Dr. Sue recalled, “I told my parents that I wanted to become a clinical psychologist, not fully knowing what a clinical psychologists did (Rockwell 2001).” He also remembered what his father said and thought after making this declaration: “My father, who was born in China, said, ‘What is that?’ He couldn’t believe that people would pay me to listen to their problems – indeed, he wondered if I could make a decent living (Rockwell 2001).”
The school system typically emphasizes participation in speaking in class, which may be more intimidating for Asians due to their background and importance of silence. Participants of Sue’s study “felt forced to conform to Western norms and values (‘talking more’) when such behaviour violated their cultural upbringing” (77). In other words, Asian participants felt uncomfortable trying to fit the White standard of talking and participating in class. Furthermore, the college and university admission decisions may be influenced by unconscious biases. These biases are usually prominent in individuals faced with an uncertain decision.
We’ve all heard it said that Asian Americans are good at math; anything involving science, technology, and medicine. They study all the time, work really hard, and live a version of the American dream many of us never thought to dream of. And of course, we know these stereotypes are dangerous and often untrue, but perhaps we still find ourselves buying into them. Ronald Takaki”, the ethnic studies expert, writes about the idea that Asian Americans are more successful than any other American minority group in his article “The Harmful Myth of Asian Superiority. Takaki refutes this idea by strategically, and somewhat effectively, using reason, statistics, and word choice to show that Asian Americans still face some of the same hardships and barriers
Across the world’s population, mental health has recently become a problem in today’s society. This is especially the case in the Latino/a community. Some of the most commonly identified issues affecting the Latino community are, depression, chemical and substance use, domestic violence, and suicide. On the same note, teenaged Latina high school women have high rates of suicide attempts. This has become a quickly rising issue due to many Latino individuals not seeking help from programs or services that are available for many reasons. One of the main reasons that many individuals not getting assistance, is due to the lack of health insurance.
Most of the Asian population in the US is concentrated in the Western states of California and Hawaii.
A strong work ethic and high expectations in education are values of many Asian-American parents. Their children are not only expected to get good grades but to be at the top of their class or get straight As. Many Asian-American children experience test anxiety due to their fears about pleasing their parents or shaming the family.
Mental illness is an increasing problem in America. Currently about 26.2% of Americans suffer from a mental disorder. A mental illness/disorder is a medical condition that disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, and ability to relate to others and daily functions. Mental illness can affect humans of any age, race, gender and socioeconomic status. However the care that is needed to effectively cure and help the people affected by the illness is not equal for everyone here in American, especially for African Americans.
Cultural shame and social stigma are the primary reasons hindering Vietnamese American parents from recognizing mental illness in their children and utilizing mental health services and support. There is no significant difference in comparing the first generation with the second generation of Vietnamese American in terms of their views or perspectives on mental health. Despite the difference experiences and opportunity the second generation receiving including possible higher education and SES (social economic status). This study will solicit Asian-American answers to this questions: “What we can do as individuals, communities, or churches and to model the decision to put our children’s mental health and happiness above the cultural shame?” and ultimately, their children’s happiness will prevail over cultural shame.
The Asian cultures make up a large portion of the world’s population, so being able to understand their way of dealing with psychological disorders is important. The way most of the Asian cultures view mental illness is vastly different from how Western cultures view mental illness. In a study it showed that “Asian Americans show stronger implicit mental illness stigma compared to Caucasian Americans” (Cheon & Chiao, 2012). One reason for this is that in Asian cultures they are more likely to attribute mental illness with some type of supernatural cause. This could include punishments by god or ancestors that they did not please by bad behavior or they may believe mental illness could be a result of a possession by an evil spirit. These types of beliefs lead to a stronger stigma against mental illness in Asian cultures. Since they believe that it can be caused by ...
Another reason why the assignment of failing grades has decreased is the influence of the self-esteem movement, which promotes the assumption that children who do not have a positive self-image cannot learn or develop properly. Although this theory is widely accepted, it has been discredited by several studies. Recent research shows that, although American students felt more confident about themselves and their work, they were outperformed by several Asian countries on tests of elementary skills. American schools and teachers tend to worry more about the student’s self-esteem than the actual academic performance (Leo, “Damn” 21). Mary Sherry, a teacher of adult literacy programs, does not believe such theories. Her view is that students become motivated by the threat of failure, and that not failing a student not only shows lack of confidence on the teacher’s behalf, but also hurts the society as a whole. Employees are becoming highly disappointed with so-called “graduate” students (8).
According to Kramer (2002), Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in the United States; growing from fewer than 1 million in 1960 to 7.2 million in 1990. But despite this ongoing rapid progression, Asian Americans have the lowest rate of utilization of any professional mental health related services than the general United States population (Tung 2011). To increase the utilization of mental health services among the Asian American community, the most hindering barriers that exist preventing Asian Americans in general from seeking out these services must be identified and explored. In spite of the fact that Asian Americans are viewed as the “model minority”, with high academic achievements and few mental/behavioral problems, studies
are taught by their parents that determination and persistency are the keys to academic achievements. In addition, many Asian parents are extremely involved and invested in their children’s education. For many first-generation immigrant and refugee parents, they believe the way to realize the American dream is through higher education and professional status. They encourage t...
In an earlier study, Sue and Morishma (1982) found that East Asian American students showed higher level of anxiety than non-Asian students. The authors concluded that there are increasing rates of depression, school dropout, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency among East Asian American adolescents. Also, according to Aldwin and Greenberger (1987), Korean students were significantly more depressed than European American students, as well as the participants’ perceived parental traditionalism was related to higher levels of depression among the Korean participated students. Okazaki (1997) measured differences in depression and social anxiety among East Asian American and European American college students. The author found that East Asian students were significantly higher on both measures of depression and anxiety than European American students. In addition, in a current study, Young and his colleagues (2010) concluded that Korean American students are more depressed than Chinese American, other Asian American, and Caucasian students. Also, the authors suggested that cultural norms and intergenerational conflict may contribute Asian American children have more depressive symptoms (Young et al., 2010). Thus, adapting Young et al.’s perspective, I consider perceived cultural norms and
Similar to gender, on a biological basis, being born a particular race does not necessarily predisposition one for ill mental health. However, there are recorded trends of certain racial groups experiencing some specific psychological disorders more than others. For example, a report published by Toronto Public Health in 2013 examined rates of depression between racialized groups. The report found that Black individuals were at greater risk of depressive symptoms in comparison to the White individuals (Ansara et al., 2013). In addition, a separate study conducted in 2008 revealed that American Indians showed greater risk for post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol dependence, but lower risk for major depression (McGuire et al., 2008). When examining possible reasons for certain racial groups to be a greater risk for particular mental disorders, similar to gender, it is important to examine unique social experiences that may be more attributable to certain racial groups. Social inequities, racial discrimination, poverty, and marginalization of racialized groups can have an eviscerating effect on these people. Despite these trends, the most important factor to be aware of is that racial and ethnic minorities have less access to mental health service, compared to Whites. As well, they are less likely to receive
In the controversy of animal testing, there are two different point of views regarding the issue. One-side supports the animal testing due to its beneficial outcomes, and the other side opposes animal testing due to morality and the ethics of testing on animals. The people who support the animal experimentation are hoping for many medical breakthroughs like those that the past animal experimentations have found. The people who oppose the animal experimentation are against it, because they believe that the animal experimentation are just cruel ways to harm animals and kill thousands of animals through failing experimentations.