Statistics
An overwhelming message conveyed in our interviewees’ responses regarding mental health within the Asian American community is that seeking help from medical professionals portrays one as “weak” or “crazy.” This concept was extremely common among all interviewees, including students, community members, medical professionals, and mental health organizations.
Data collected from a study concerning the distribution of mental illness among different ethnic groups showed that, while 14.5% of Asians were diagnosed with any form of mental illness, only 21.6% received their diagnoses from official mental health services (Srinivasa and Pasupleti, 2020, p. 155). A graphic comparing self-stigma related to mental health issues among multiple races showed that 95% of Asian-Americans strongly agreed that they felt inferior to others who had not had a mental health problem (Wong, et al., 2016, p. 5).
The reasoning for the presence of this belief in the Asian-American community was provided by several medical professionals we interviewed, including a health worker named Tiffany Ho, who stated, “There is not a lot of education on mental health in Asian countries, especially ones like China and Vietnam.” Mark Salazar, a mental health organization member interviewee, emphasized this same idea, explaining that there is such a lack of mental health education for the older-generation Asian community that they are discouraged from learning more.
Shame, pride, and vulnerability were also huge barriers preventing Asian-Americans from seeking mental health care. Many community members, medical professionals, and students alike mentioned these ideas during their respective interviews. One Cantonese-speaking Chinese-American student interviewee’s responses summarized this concept, recollecting that many Chinese-Americans are told that internal issues such as mental health are “too máfan” [麻烦] (too much trouble; troublesome).
The student also stated that a common mentality in the Asian-American community seems to be, “I should stand alone, and need to be the one to handle my own problems; no one else should be responsible for them.” Similarly, a bar graph created based on the stigma of mental health in several ethnic groups showcased that 68% of Asian-Americans would hide mental health problems from coworkers or classmates, and 43% would do the same with family or friends (Wong, et al., 2016, p. 4).
Further illustrating this narrative, an additional graphic highlighted that, if confronted with a serious emotional problem, 85% of Asian-Americans would seek professional help. Although this statistic shows that the majority of Asian-Americans agree with the idea of seeking professional help, they are also the least likely to do so, compared to Latinxs (90%)., Whites (90%)., and African-Americans (94%). (Wong, et al., 2016, p. 4).
