By Minna Xiao, The Stanford Daily
Even as the treatment of student mental health and wellness continues to evolve at Stanford, for many communities on campus such dialogue goes beyond the typical referral to Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) or The Bridge Peer Counseling Center. For populations such as the Asian-American and Native American communities, issues surrounding mental health may be steeped in cultural stigmas and influences, coloring the ways in which psychological health is addressed.
Cultural stigma hurts Asian American teens with depression. Photo from New America Media.
A code of silence
As a Vietnamese-American born to immigrant parents, James Huynh ‘15 said that he perceives a code of silence within the Asian-American community surrounding the issue of mental health.
“The big cultural stigma, for me at least, is that we often sweep mental health under the rug,” he explained. “We don’t see it as something as serious as physical health. If a family has someone who’s suffering from depression or other mental health illnesses, they try to keep that hidden.”
Huynh, who recently started using CAPS after a buildup of stress became too overwhelming, admitted his own tendencies to place his mental health on the backburner, brushing off feelings of sadness and stress with an ‘I’ll just deal with it, handle it and move on’ mentality.
“I didn’t really recognize my own needs,” he said.
According to Huynh, his background as a Vietnamese-American generates internalized pressure to keep it together in order to eventually get a good job and support his immigrant family. Because of this, he said, he doesn’t want to slow down.
When asked if his parents know that he is using CAPS, Huynh said that it never occurred to him to tell them.
“I don’t want to worry them too much,” he explained. “We like to keep our problems to ourselves … The East Asian concept of the self is we do things to satisfy our relationships with other people.”
Diane Lee, a doctoral candidate in the Graduate School of Education who conducts research on cultural stress and coping of Koreans and Korean-Americans, said that although Asian-Americans may go to family and friends to help with mental health issues, seeking formal or professional sources of psychiatric services is where many Asian-Americans draw the line.
“This becomes more of a problem if they struggle with serious mental health illnesses that require medication or certain specialized help like counseling,” Lee said.
Addressing the stigma
That stigma has had a tangible effect on campus. Asian-American students tend to underutilize CAPS’ resources in comparison to other populations, according to Oliver Lin ’93, a CAPS psychologist who also teaches the course EDUC 193F: Psychological Well-Being on Campus: Asian American Perspectives.
Lin explained that the impact of not seeking out professional help is compounded by the mindset that using such resources might indicate some sort of perceived inadequacy, weakness or flaw.
“I’m painting very broadly here, but I think even the notion of mental health as separate, distinct and valid from physical health may not be made,” Lin said. “Mental health issues are sometimes construed as being lazy or not disciplined enough.”
In 2007, the Asian American Activities Center (A3C) created the Asian American Health at Stanford Initiative and conducted a survey to gather information on views of mental health among the Asian-American community at Stanford. Based on survey data, the A3C launched its iLive series — previously known as the After Dark series — which seeks to foster open dialogue about mental health within the context of the Asian-American community.
The iLive series, which takes the format of small group discussions led by a professional staff member, most often a CAPS counselor, is specifically geared towards addressing issues that Asian-American students have identified as instigating the most stress. Some of these include the model minority myth, depression, body image, anxiety and perfectionism.
Cindy Ng, associate dean of students and director of the A3C, noted that the iLive series serves a dual purpose.
“It both addresses the topical issue at hand but also allows students to connect with campus resources,” Ng said. “Our center is a safe space … a more familiar setting for students to meet counselors for the first time and feel comfortable enough with them to pursue further one-on-one counseling if needed.”
Read the full article by Minna Xiao from The Stanford Daily.
