Analyzing mental health concerns with regard to ethnicity is central to effective resource allocation. Asian Americans (AAs) are disproportionately affected by psychiatric disorders, depression, and self-image issues related to cultural concerns but seek professional assistance three times less likely than white Americans (MHA International, n.d.). The mental health situation of the AA community is inseparable from historical factors, the culture of success, and prejudice, which calls for destigmatization and specialized resources to promote coping.
Factors Influencing Mental Health Issues
As a group, AAs are severely affected by widespread mental disorders resulting from various social factors. Many of these contributors relate to explicit or unintentional aggression that maximizes AAs’ perceived alienation. The so-called foreigner stereotype causes incorrect assumptions about Asian-looking people, including unethical language-related questions that exacerbate the minority’s perceived loneliness (MHA International, n.d.). Additional factors that have been impacting the group’s mental health are stigma or the inability to express concerns and first-generation immigrants’ traumatic experiences that have long-term influences (MHA International, n.d.). As an example, the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII has had long-lasting impacts on the group’s mental well-being (MHA International, n.d.). The religion-based misunderstanding has been influencing the mental health of AAs practicing Islam and Sikhism (MHA International, n.d.). Therefore, the possible causes of behavioral health issues in the group are diverse and relate to prejudice and the outcomes of historical injustice.
What Can Be Done to Promote Coping with Mental Illnesses
Helping AAs to cope with mental issues can involve both informational and resource-related endeavors. As language barriers continue to limit the group’s access to behavioral health services, developing the institutions of mental health interpreting and bilingual services could be helpful (MHA International, n.d.). Next, excessive parental pressure is a common concern in AA students, so creating educational resources to promote healthy child motivation practices among AA parents is another viable proposition (Nishi, 2012). Increasing collaboration between community resources for AA citizens and formal mental health support systems is also necessary to promote coping (Meyers, 2006; Nishi, 2012). Moreover, the power of internalized stigma and taboos linked with expressing mental health concerns should be reduced (MHA International, n.d.). One strategy to eliminate this factor’s influences and promote coping revolves around awareness-building campaigns targeted at AAs and normalizing the act of seeking mental health treatment. To promote coping more effectively, it can be crucial to appeal to nation-specific values, which will require creating media products for dissimilar subgroups of AAs.
AAs and Other Groups: Similarities and Differences
Similar to Caucasian Americans and minorities, AAs are influenced by public stigma and collective trauma, but the parental expectations problem makes AAs’ situation different. The tendency to associate mental health concerns with weakness and something shameful can be seen in both white Americans and any minority populations, and AAs are not an exception (DeLuca et al., 2018). Also, similar to Native and African Americans, AAs are affected by the history of collective trauma linked with inter-group power distribution, wars, colonization, or similar events. At the same time, AAs feature some unique patterns peculiar to mental health concerns stemming from family relations. For instance, inadequately strong parental pressure to succeed in diverse academic fields is often listed among the key behavioral tendencies found in AA parents (Choi et al., 2020). Conflicts on the basis of children’s disagreement with such expectations increase the latter’s risks of developing mental health concerns (Meyers, 2006). Thus, despite similarities, there are cultural trends that make AAs’ mental health situation unique.
Conclusion
To sum up, the AA community’s situation with mental health requires improvement and careful planning. The community’s vulnerability to psychological concerns has been created by aggression, historical injustice, and prejudice, and removing their effects is impossible without spreading mental health awareness and removing language barriers. The group’s unique culture of high educational expectations and pressure on children should also be considered in health promotion projects.
References
Choi, Y., Lee, M., Lee, J. P., Park, M., Lee, S. Y., & Hahm, H. C. (2020). Disempowering parenting and mental health among Asian American youth: Immigration and ethnicity. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 66, 1-10.
DeLuca, J. S., Vaccaro, J., Seda, J., & Yanos, P. T. (2018). Political attitudes as predictors of the multiple dimensions of mental health stigma. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 64(5), 459-469.
Meyers, L. (2006). Asian-American mental health. Monitor Staff, 37(2), 44.
MHA International. (n.d.). Asian American/Pacific Islander communities and mental health.
Nishi, K. (2012). Mental health among Asian-Americans.