Week 6 - Angie Zhang

Angie Zhang

Section A01

Week 6

The article “On Some College Campuses, A Focus on Asian American Mental Health” by Katherine Kam discusses the issue of how the mental well-being of many Asian American students in the United States are impacted by factors such as model minority expectations, racial discrimination, and pressure from their families. Kam’s article exposes the fact that the majority of college students that get diagnosed with depression are of Asian descent, and how their depression can lead to circumstances as extreme as suicide. She also reveals that many of those diagnosed with depression tend not to do as well academically, and are more reluctant when it comes to seeking academic help from counselors or advisors as they feel too embarrassed and ashamed to do so. Many people also assume that Asian Americans should excel in subjects such as math due to it being a popular stereotype in society, which puts an immense amount of pressure on those students. First generation Asian American college students also experience enormous pressure when it comes to doing well in school and choosing their majors due to either their parent’s expectations, or their own expectations of themselves as they feel as though their parents worked so hard and sacrificed so much for their benefit. Therefore, Kam emphasizes that campuses across the U.S. need to pay closer attention to the mental health of students from Asian backgrounds. Before reading this article, it hadn’t occurred to me how severe these stereotypes and expectations affected Asian American students. Personally, I can very closely relate to this subject as I have also experienced the effects of model minority expectations and racial discrimination. Ever since middle school, my peers have assumed that I was a straight “A” student simply because I am Chinese. They would mock my knowledge of math by claiming that I always knew the answer, which I didn’t, which resulted in me, for the longest time, questioning myself about whether I was supposed to excel in math as I clearly hadn’t. However, that didn’t affect me mentally to the point of depression due to my peer’s and family’s support. Regardless, I still agree with Kam and feel as though schools need to take the extra step to assist Asian American students in order to ensure that these stereotypical, model minority expectations do not impact their mental health.

Question: What are some other ways to encourage Asian American students to reach out for help so they don’t get to the point where they are severely depressed? Maybe schools can directly educate parents in order for them to lift the pressure off of their kids? How do these stereotypes and expectations on Asian Americans affect other students of different ethnicities?

References:

Kam, K. 2013. “On Some College Campuses, A Focus On Asian American Mental Health.” Retrieved October 24, 2017.

[Digital Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 24, 2017, from https://capitolgoods.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/depressionjpg.jpg