Reading “On Some College Campuses, A Focus On Asian American Mental Health” really hit home with me because mental health has always been a touchy subject for my family. Culturally speaking, there has always been a stigma regarding mental disorders and many Filipinos from older generations don’t believe that it is actually a health condition. It was also interesting to see the impact racial stereotypes have on Asian American students. Last week’s reading covered how other racial stereotypes, specifically the hypersexualization of Asian women led to tragedies such as serial killers. This week, we see the harm racial stereotypes, specifically the conceptualization that Asians must be academically successful. Instead of physical damage, we see how it affects the community psychologically. These assumptions are dangerous because these Asian American students internalize these expectations, causing strain on their self-esteem. It is nice to see that some academic institutes are taking action against this threat. Hopefully the development of these centers will normalize mental health and destigmatize the notion. When this happens, more people will be able to talk about depression or anxiety without shame, and more students will go out and seek the medical attention they need instead of suffering in silence.
References
Kam, Katherine (2013). On Some College Campuses, A Focus on Asian American Mental Health. New American Media.
PHOTO: Retrieved from Time Magazine time.com
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