Sunday, October 29, 2017

Week 6 – Isabel Fajardo

Isabel Fajardo
Week 6
AO3

I have always thought that the interaction between mental illnesses and education was interesting, especially because it is an issue that has affected those around me. In “On Some College Campuses, A Focus On Asian American Mental Health,” I was really disheartened but not surprised to see how high the percentage of Asian-American suicides were in comparison to how many Asian-Americans students attended Cornell. My main circle of friends in high school consisted of many Asia-Americans who often shared the same story of parents who grew up in an Asian country and had a negative view of depression and anxiety, among many other mental health concerns. My brother has told me time and time again that in the Philippines – where my parents come from – if you had depression, you were cast away from society and had a huge stigma following.
This article went over the basics of mental illnesses in the Asian-American community, most things I thought were already common knowledge: family, financial, and school situations often led people to become mentally ill, and Asian-Americans are more likely to not seek help – professional or otherwise – when they need it. I wish the article went more into depth as to why these stigmas appear or further ways to help those in need besides encouraging them to just seek out professional help. I know it is hard to take that first step.
So my question is this: what more can we do to help Asian-Americans take the first step for recovery or help?


References:
            Kam, K. (2013) On Some College Campuses, a Focus on Asian American Mental Health. From New America Media, New Feature. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
            [The Tempest]. (2017, October 2). Living With a Mental Disorder If You're Asian American [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_phAFo0zvE

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