Americans face several barriers to accessing
Compared to those of other racial and ethnic backgrounds, Asian Americans are least likely to receive mental health treatment. In fact, only 21% of Asian adults with a mental illness received care in 2020, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. While concerning, this data point isn't surprising given the cultural divides between western and eastern societies, says Adora Du, founder of FAUNA Mental Health, a non-profit dedicated to providing written resources on mental health support for Asian and BIPOC communities.
Du is Chinese-American, and has sought mental health help in the past. With a background in mental health research and clinical work, she knows firsthand how the system fails Americans like her.
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"The therapist I was seeing was white and male, and would chalk [problems] up to being an 'Asian thing,'" she says. "A lot of minority groups that seek therapy probably experience that, especially when they have cultural differences with their provider."
FAUNA is on a mission to bridge those gaps by offering articles that range from first-hand accounts to research on BIPOC mental health experiences. Currently, resources are available through FAUNA's website. Du hopes to expand FAUNA's footprint so it can serve as a library for mental health care providers, as well as those who wish to learn more about mental health and possible resources. Through their existing support discussion groups, Du also hopes FAUNA will be a safe place for college student organizations, community organizations and workforces to connect online with their peers.
Even with this education, increasing cultural competency is no easy task. Du underlines how crucial it is for providers and patients to be aware of the stigmas that may prevent Asian Americans from seeking help. One prime example is the East Asian concept of "face," which refers to the importance of how other people within one's community perceive the individual.
"Face is about how you present yourself on behalf of your family and people around you, and is a common feature in a lot of collectivist societies like East Asia," she says. "That's why there is a big hesitation to express or even identify a mental health condition. Asians and Asian Americans would see it as a very undesirable thing to even be in therapy."
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While Asian and Asian Americans may feel pressure to conform to certain behaviors and customs, that contrasts with the U.S. and other western countries in their approach to mental health. People are more expected to behave according to personal preferences — the individual comes first, not their community. Du points out that both individualism and collectivism can be problematic, with either extreme isolating the individual.
Providers do not often understand this key difference and look at mental health care from a solely western lens. A therapist may ask an Asian-American patient to draw boundaries with their parents or focus more on taking care of themselves rather than the people around them. Du notes that while this may be effective advice for some, it may feel out of touch, if not impossible for others.
"There's a lot of core ideas in therapy and the mental health field that clash directly with what we typically learn as values as Asians," says Du. "For example, you may be told that others shouldn't be overly reliant on you, but in Chinese culture you are expected to take care of those around you. That is part of who you are and what society values."
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This isn't to say that Asian Americans cannot create healthy boundaries, but providers may not understand what those boundaries would look like in a collectivist culture. Du isn't sure herself, but hopes more research and education centered on the Asian American mental health experience will reveal answers.
And in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which not only brought further mental health strain but a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans, mental health support has only become more vital to this demographic. The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found that anti-Asian hate crimes rose by 339% in 2021, following rampant misinformation that placed the blame of the pandemic on Asian-American communities.
"It's a very isolating, scary experience," says Du. "It feels like it's 'us' versus 'them,' and our appearance has been tarnished because people see us in a certain light."
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Du advises providers as well as employers to consider how everyone's culture informs their actions. She specifically encourages companies to make
Given that many Asian Americans would be hesitant to share their personal problems with a manager, Du also asks leaders not to wait until a problem is brought to their attention before offering resources. It should be expected that employees access mental health resources at the start of their employment, even just to try it for a short time.
"It's easy for a lot of people to think that if you don't talk about your problem, that means you don't have a problem," says Du. "So if there's not much support or a direct reframing of mental health care, it makes it harder for people to seek help."
