Week 6
Section A03

Maximilian Probstel 

In this week`s reading the articles primarily focused on the impacts of society on Asian American and their mental health. With this being said, the two articles that I found the most interesting were “On Some College Campuses, A Focus On Asian American Mental Health” by Katherine Kam and the article “Pathologizing Everyday Life” by Anais Nin. What I found the most interesting about the two articles was that these articles touch on different ways of how to go about with mental illnesses of Asian Americans. 

The first article highlights the importance for Asian Americans to seek help if they are dealing with mental health issues like depression, bipolar, stress or other problems. For Asian and Asian-Americans this is not as easy since opening up about this subject is not something they are used to. Through programs such as “Let’s Talk”, it does not require students to come to the health centre for counselling. These subtle ways to help these students has proved very effective.  Furthermore, the article explains that it is of good use to treat these health problems with counselling but also with medication. That is where the two articles differ in viewpoints. The first article states that it is not necessarily bad to resort to medication for mental health problems. This is negotiated in the second article. The second article does not see the reason for medication, but  focuses more on the root of the problem, which is to stop the harassment faced by Asian and Asian-American individuals.  What types of changes are necessary for an Asian or Asian-American student to go to class without getting stereotypical remarks. Even though the first article classifies not all remarks as bad, some remarks such as “You are good in maths”, considered positive stereotypes, can still build up pressure for a student. 

Talking from personal experience, today I do not deny that I was one of the students asking the “clever” students for help. For me I did not realise the effect it could have. I just needed help and you think that Asian and Asian-American students, that are top of their class, enjoy their academics but I never realised the pressure these individuals go through. 

Question: For Asian and Asian-American students, is the pressure from parents bigger than the pressure from peers, or is it vice versa? 

This journal article talks about the 10 times Asian-American stood up to stereotypes and refused to stay silent: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/8-times-asian-americans-obliterated-stereotypes-and-refused-to-stay-silent-in-2016_us_5852c4a8e4b054eeaea209fa

Sources: 

         Mcleon, Mark, Tom Tercek, and Martha Wisbey. "Facilitating Mental Health on College Campuses: Consultation Between University Counseling Centers and Offices of Residence Life." Journal of American College Health 33.4 (1985): 168-70. Web. 7 May 2017.

         Wasserman, Theodore, and Lori Drucker Wasserman. "Pathologizing Everyday Life." Depathologizing Psychopathology (2016): 7-12. Web.

         Yam, Kimberly . "10 Times Asians Crushed Stereotypes And Refused To Stay Silent In 2016." HuffingtonPost (2016): n. pag. Web. 7 May 2017.