Week 6 Presentation A03

Rachel Ibrahim

Joshua Vandermeyde

Aaron Seitz

Week 6 Presentation

ASA 2 Section A03

This week’s theme, pathologizing of Asian Americans and the Americanization of mental illness and other harms to humans, was portrayed through several different readings ranging from the Americanization of mental illness and Asian American health to how wifi and electromagnetic forces (emfs) are harmful to children in school.

Two of the articles this week relating to the other harms to humans part of the theme talked about the harmful effects electromagnetic forces have on our bodies and more specifically in the form of how wifi can be damaging to children at schools. While emfs are potentially very harmful to all people, children in school are much more susceptible to damaging their organs because both children’s organs have not fully developed and school wifi routers tend to be much more powerful than home ones. This combination makes it especially harmful to children who are required to be in school, continuously exposed, for eight hours a day, five days a week. I think this was an incredibly relevant article because everyone is constantly exposed to technology that emits electromagnetic waves. I am always on my phone, I use my laptop every day and I am never in a location that doesn’t have wifi. Knowing that the things I rely on for education and entertainment pose a threat to my health is scary and knowing there is not much I can do on my own to avoid exposure is even worse. I agree with Spero that this is a subject that does not have enough attention because unless we try to do something about it, it will continually hurt future generations.

The Americanization of the university has been a theme in the past, and this week proves again how much of an impact American ideals have on the world. When thinking of mental illnesses, I commonly think of them as something that is universal and would be treated the same regardless of cultural background, location or race, but after reading “The Americanization of Mental Illness” By Ethan Watters, it seems ridiculous I could have thought that. This proves that mental illness is just not a very well known subject and not many people really understand it. Scientifically speaking, mental illness due to the neurological and genetic factors could be similar, however, culturally speaking, environmental effects also have an impact on the illness. This article particularly talks about how due to globalization, Western ideas and treatments regarding mental illness are gaining so much popularity worldwide, that it suppresses the differences in illness between cultures. American ideas and treatments to mental illness are being taught as what is right, therefore ignoring the fact that illnesses in different locations will be different and therefore require different treatments or diagnoses. In addition to this, Western stigmas around mental health are being adopted by other countries. We pride ourselves on being the leaders in knowledge about mental illnesses, but in reality our Americanization of the topic is hurting cultures around the world.

In addition to the Americanization of mental illness, there is currently a massive expansion of what we are defining as a “mental illness”. According to the article, “Pathologizing Everyday Life,” we are seeing an increase in the medical definition of mental illnesses, leading to a large increase in the percentage of the population that are being diagnosed with mental illnesses. The article discusses how the medicalization of mental illnesses is not necessarily a good thing, as a medical diagnosis involves the patient to go through “medical study, diagnosis, prevention, or treatment,” and the patient might not have anything medically wrong with them. Through the expansion of the diagnosis of “mental illnesses” pharmaceutical and other medical companies are able to expand their consumer base to people who might not actually need medication to help with the disorder they have. Many disorders can be caused by learned behaviors from the environment you grew up in or are surrounded by as discussed in the Americanization of mental illness article. I believe that this boom in diagnoses in mental illness can also be partly attributed to the increase in medical information available to the general public through the internet. When someone is able to look up what they are feeling and find a medical diagnosis for what is wrong with them along with many support groups for that same diagnosis immediately, it can be very relieving. But, this self diagnosis that can later be confirmed by a medical professional might not be an accurate diagnosis. There are many factors that can contribute to the formation of a mental illness, and for some it is from the reaction to everyday life of being a human and all the stresses it entails, not a chemical imbalance or other medical reason. While these illnesses might not necessarily be medical, the people who suffer from them do still need support and cannot be marginalized just because it is not a medical diagnosis.

The article “On Some College Campuses, A Focus On Asian American Mental Health” discusses how mental illness specifically affects Asian Americans, explores why a significant number of Asian Americans are impacted by mental illness, and looks at how treatment is sought out. The article begins by pointing out the alarming number of Asian American college students who have depression as compared to other groups of students. I believe this is important to note because our school, like many universities, has a great deal of diversity and it is important to keep each and every student safe and healthy. If  statistics show that Asian Americans are greatly affected by depression, we must take specific action to help those in need. Next the article goes on to point out some of the possible reasons Asian Americans are specifically impacted by mental illness. The article points specifically at model minority pressures and family expectations. As we have discussed in class, it seems as though there is this stereotype that Asian Americans are always good at school and should always be getting great grades. This just simply is not true and as a result, there is so much pressure put on them to succeed that sometimes they can not take the pressure and become depressed as a result of their lack of ability to meet expectations. In class Jim Li also explained how he was pressured by his parents to pursue a career that was considered meaningful and important by his parents, in his case math. Jim explained that he hated math but felt he could not change majors to something he enjoyed and wanted to invest his time in for fear that his parents would not accept him. This is a perfect example of unnecessary stress put on students. Students should not be put in a situation where they feel they can’t stray from their parents wishes and force themselves to hurt their mental well-being. The article then goes on to explain some new ways in which universities are attempting to reach out to students in need. Cornell for example has anonymous meetings multiple times a week for students to drop in and talk to a counselor about any problems they are having. This is very important because this method changes the dynamic of a counseling system and more students feel comfortable going to such events. The problem for many students seems to be that they don’t want to go to a counselor because of the reputation associated with it but with this program students do not feel uncomfortable and are able to get help they need. It seems as though mental illness is not talked about nearly enough in the news and in the public in general today as it should be. Many young people are not aware of the serious risks involved and lack the knowledge of ways to seek help when they are feeling in trouble. I believe there should be a bigger spotlight on mental health because of the sheer number of people impacted by it. This article relates to the topic of the week regarding “Americanization of Mental Illness” by proving just how “American” mental illness is. Young adults from all over the world are coming to the U.S. to study and many are finding out the hard way that here in the U.S. mental health is an epidemic impacting far too many students. There are a select few professors here at UC Davis who talk about mental illness openly in their classes but more should because students need to be aware that this is a real issue and if they are being impacted, that they can get help.

Resources:

Kam, K. (2013, September 11). On Some College Campuses, a Focus on Asian American

MentalHealth. Retrieved May 03, 2017, from http://newamericamedia.org/2013/09/on-some-college-campuses-a-focus-on-asian-american-mental-health.php?utm_source=Headlines%2B9%2F11%2F13& On Some College Campuses%2C A Focus On Asian American Mental Health SEPTEMBER 13%2C 2013 BY NEW AMERICA MEDIA

Watters, E. (2010, January 8). The Americanization of Mental Illness. The New York

Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/magazine/10psyche-t.html

Spero, B. (n.d.). Is Wi-FI in School Safe? Bostonparentspaper.com. Retrieved from
http://bostonparentspaper.com/article/print.php?id=3009522

Wasserman, T., & Wasserman, L. D. (2016). Depathologizing psychopathology: the
neuroscience of mental illness and its treatment. Switzerland: Springer.