Saving Face, Losing Lives

Luchang Wang was one of about 150 Asian American college students who commit suicide every year. During her sophomore year at Yale University in 2015, Wang jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay.

To this day, mental illness remains one of the most critical health problems in the world. Even so, mental illness is heavily stigmatized, leading to individuals with mental health conditions being discriminated against and seen as outcasts. And for Asian Americans, a minority stereotyped with academic success and whose culture values hard work and loyalty toward the family, mental illness is unspoken of.

Even so, mental illness is common among Asian Americans. Suicide was the second leading cause of death for Asian Americans aged 15 to 34 in 2007, according to the American Psychological Association. And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18.9 percent of Asian American high school students report considering suicide, with 10.8 percent attempting it, in comparison to 15.5 percent of white students considering suicide, with 6.2 percent attempting it.

Many Asian Americans feel pressured by their parents to succeed in school to the extent that grades define their worth. For many, failing to get good grades means failing to reach the expectations of their family. Asian Americans make up around 30 percent of the student bodies at the most prestigious colleges in the nation while making up only six percent of the total U.S. population. And while many students face mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety, fear of failure from school and their parents prohibits them from wanting to seek help, leading to suicide.

Additionally, many Asian American students feel that academic success is an expectation that they must reach as a result of the model minority myth. This myth enforces many positive stereotypes, such as how Asians are destined for academic success. When Asian Americans cannot live up to these stereotypes which are widely acknowledged and tied to their identity, they may feel inadequate, ashamed, and even worthless.

Not only is mental illness more prominent among Asians than any other race in America, but they are also three times less likely to seek mental health services compared to whites, according to the American Psychological Association. A major factor in the silence regarding mental health is wanting to “save face,” a popular Chinese phrase. To save face is to preserve one’s dignity and self-image; having a mental illness is a fast way to “lose face.” According to journalist Katherine Kam, “[Asian parents] fear that any mental problems will reflect badly on their son or daughter, as well as tarnish their entire lineage.” As a result of the fear and shame that comes with admitting to having mental illness, many believe that discipline will help overcome mental illness instead of treatments, but it cannot.

But in order to diminish the prominence of mental illness among Asian Americans, the communication barrier must be broken. Reera Yoo, a former NYU student, admitted having suffered from depression but felt ashamed to let her friends and family know. Years after her graduation, she revealed, “The major reason I decided to go public is because I lost a few friends to suicide. If I had talked to my friends about their mental health issues, would it have made a difference? Would it have made them feel safer?”

In addition to this communication barrier is a language barrier. Studies on Asian health in the U.S. show that approximately one out of two Asian Americans cannot find the treatments they need because they cannot speak English or find services in their own language. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide death rates for Asian American females 65 years and older are higher than those for white females. Because many neglect their symptoms due to a lack of awareness of the limited resources and services available, Asian Americans cannot find the mental health help they need.

However, recent work has been done in increasing awareness and resources available for Asian Americans battling with mental illness. Representative Judy Chu introduced the Stop Mental Health Stigma in Our Communities Act bill in 2017 which is yet to pass. This bill aims to reduce mental health stigma in the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Chu is well aware of the cultural and linguistic barriers many face. Therefore, she is working toward implementing outreach and education strategies about behavior and mental health and is introducing interventions and treatments that are culturally and linguistically sensitive to these communities. Such strategies center around increasing awareness on mental health by partnering with health organizations that serve Asian American groups and understand common symptoms of mental illness.

Additionally, many colleges, including Cornell and Stanford, are requiring more counselors and an expansion of their current outreach efforts to help prevent student suicides. For example, Cornell formed a health-oriented Asian and Asian American Campus Climate Task Force in 2002 that would look deeper into student suicides. Also referred to as “Let’s Talk,” this new program allows for students to request an informal consultation when feeling distressed.

Stanford has implemented an annual “Listen to the Silence” conference, with senior Annie Phan as a co-chair. Having once struggled herself with panic attacks and depressive episodes, Phan is now vocal about her mental health in hopes of encouraging her fellow Asian Americans to be more open and discuss mental health issues. Aware of how mental illness is viewed in Asian society, she strongly believes that “shame is a big factor that leads people to hide and prevents people from seeking help. Among Asian Americans, there’s a joke that we go crazy and commit suicide. But we need to have a conversation about this in a serious way.”

And having a conversation about suicide and mental illness in general is vital in creating an open and helpful environment free of shame. With more available programs, such as Cornell’s “Let’s Talk” and more workshops, such as Stanford’s annual “Listen to the Silence,” Asian American students would feel more inclined to share their own experiences with mental health conditions and understand the importance of seeking professional help when needed.

Unfortunately, for Wang, she felt unwelcomed by her university for grappling with mental health. Because of Yale’s withdrawal and readmission policies, Wang felt as if she could not open up and, even if she did, that her well-being was not a priority of the school. In her suicide note, she wrote that, “Upon release from the hospital...my Yale ID was confiscated, as was my room key. I was given one evening to pack up my entire life.”

Stuyvesant is a competitive school with a large Asian American population where stress is all too common among students. Much like Yale, Cornell, and Stanford, Stuyvesant should implement more workshops and programs aimed toward battling mental illness among Asian Americans. These sessions should work toward creating an open environment within the school that is free from the stigma that mental illness usually carries in society. Catering to Asian American students, the ideas that mental illness does not cause one to “lose face” and that it is just as important as physical health should be emphasized. Students should feel safe and reassured with the adults running these sessions and should feel comfortable in attending and confiding in these programs.

Though mental illness is not an easy topic to speak up about, it matters because many lives are on the line. There is no shame in finding professional help, but by breaking down these cultural and linguistic barriers and diminishing the stigma surrounding mental health, Asian Americans will have more of the courage to do so.