The Mental Health Of Asian Americans

“Dr. Jenny T. Wang has been an incredible resource for Asian mental health. I believe that her knowledge, presence, and activism for mental health in the Asian American/Immigrant community have been invaluable and groundbreaking. I am so very grateful that she exists.”—Steven Yeun, actor, The Walking Dead and Minari Asian Americans are experiencing a racial reckoning regarding their identity, inspiring them to radically reconsider the cultural frameworks that enabled their assimilation into American culture. As Asian Americans investigate the personal and societal effects of longstanding cultural narratives suggesting they take up as little space as possible, their mental health becomes critically important. Yet despite the fact that over 18 million people of Asian descent live in the United States today — they are the racial group least likely to seek out mental health services. Permission to Come Home takes Asian Americans on an empowering journey toward reclaiming their mental health. Weaving her personal narrative as a Taiwanese American together with her insights as a clinician and evidence-based tools, Dr. Jenny T. Wang explores a range of life areas that call for attention, offering readers the permission to question, feel, rage, say no, take up space, choose, play, fail, and grieve. Above all, she offers permission to return closer to home, a place of acceptance, belonging, healing, and freedom. For Asian Americans and Diaspora, this book is a necessary road map for the journey to wholeness. .

This widely adopted text synthesizes an extensive body of research on Asian American personality development, identity, and mental health. Uba focuses on how ethnocultural factors interact with minority group status to shape the experiences of members of diverse Asian American groups. Cultural values and norms shared by many Asian Americans are examined and common sources of stress described, including racial discrimination and immigrant and refugee experiences. Rates of mental health problems in Asian American communities are reviewed, as are predictors and manifestations of specific disorders. The volume also explores patterns in usage of available mental health services and considers ways that service delivery models might be adapted to better meet the needs of Asian American clients.

Asian American Mental Health is a state-of-the-art compendium of the conceptual issues, empirical literature, methodological approaches, and practice guidelines for conducting culturally informed assessments of Asian Americans, and for assessing provider cultural competency within individuals and systems. It is the first of its kind on Asian Americans. This volume draws upon the expertise of many of the leading experts in Asian American and multicultural mental health to provide a much needed resource for students and professionals in a wide range of disciplines including clinical psychology, medical anthropology, psychiatry, cross-cultural psychology, multicultural counseling, ethnic minority psychology, sociology, social work, counselor education, counseling psychology, and more.

This book has two objectives: to show that the research does not support the belief that Asians in the United States are well adjusted, and therefore, do not need mental health services; and, to show the effects of cultural differences between Americans and Asians in the recognition and treatment of mental health problems. The book has eight chapters which discuss the following subjects: why Asian Americans should be studied; patterns of disturbance and use of mental health services; cultural issues in recognizing symptoms and identifying disturbed persons; the Asian American family; personality, sex-role conflicts and ethnic identity; improving intervention and treatment; and future directions for Asian American mental health. In each chapter the author reviews and criticizes the research to date these subjects. The author's conclusions include: 1) the rate of mental disorders among Asian Americans has been underestimated; 2) the expression of symptoms is influenced by culture; and 3) the Asian American family has both positive and negative effects on mental health. While the author only briefly mentions the special problems of Asian American refugees, the mental health issues discussed in the book are applicable to all Asian American immigrants, including refugees.

“The authors are to be commended for a book which should be very helpful for mental health professionals taking care of South Asian patients. The book uses case histories to illustrate a range of issues, which may come up in the treatment of this ethno-cultural group. The cases cut across genders, age groups, socioeconomic groups, diagnostic categories, and other clinical matters pertaining to abuse and domestic violence among South Asians born in South Asia and in the United States. The cases illustrate issues related to immigration, acculturation, stigma, access to care, and familial and intergenerational problems. The cases make teaching points about the impact of culture on clinical presentation and treatment, focusing on how culture and religion can be both a hindrance and an asset. The authors describe how to use cultural understanding in diagnosis and treatment” (Iqbal Ahmed MD, FRCPsych, UK).

This first-of-its-kind, two-volume set examines physical, psychological, social, and environmental factors that undermine—or support—healthy development in Asian American children. How do skin color, culture, racial and ethnic identities, politics, economics, and environment influence children's mental health and academic success? Asian American and Pacific Islander Children and Mental Health spotlights these forces and more. This unique, two-volume work examines a wide range of factors that affect children, including family conditions and economic status, child abuse, substance abuse, gangs, and community stability, as well as prejudices such as the common expectation that Asian Americans are a "model minority" and their children "whiz kids." Since education is key to success, contributors consider the factors affecting Asian American children largely in the context of educational readiness and academic adjustment. However, the set is not limited to exploring problems. It also looks at factors that help Asian American children be mentally healthy, engaged, and successful at school and in later life. Volume one of the set explores development and context, while volume two looks at prevention and treatment.

First Published in 2009. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Stigma continues to play an integral role in the multifaceted issues facing mental health. While identifying a clear operational definition of stigma has been a challenge in the field, the issues related to stigma grossly affect not only the mental health population but society as a whole. Deconstructing Stigma in Mental Health provides emerging research on issues related to stigma as a whole including ignorance, prejudice, and discrimination. While highlighting issues such as stigma and its role in mental health and how stigma is perpetuated in society, this publication explores the historical context of stigma, current issues and resolutions through intersectional collaboration, and the deconstruction of mental health stigmas. This book is a valuable resource for mental health administrators and clinicians, researchers, educators, policy makers, and psychology professionals seeking information on current mental health stigma trends.

In Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation critic David L. Eng and psychotherapist Shinhee Han draw on case histories from the mid-1990s to the present to explore the social and psychic predicaments of Asian American young adults from Generation X to Generation Y. Combining critical race theory with several strands of psychoanalytic thought, they develop the concepts of racial melancholia and racial dissociation to investigate changing processes of loss associated with immigration, displacement, diaspora, and assimilation. These case studies of first- and second-generation Asian Americans deal with a range of difficulties, from depression, suicide, and the politics of coming out to broader issues of the model minority stereotype, transnational adoption, parachute children, colorblind discourses in the United States, and the rise of Asia under globalization. Throughout, Eng and Han link psychoanalysis to larger structural and historical phenomena, illuminating how the study of psychic processes of individuals can inform investigations of race, sexuality, and immigration while creating a more sustained conversation about the social lives of Asian Americans and Asians in the diaspora.