As the global emergency surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic ended last year, directors at Self-Help for the Elderly, an agency serving San Francisco’s Asian American community, figured seniors would emerge from their seclusion and return to social activities they once embraced: community lunches, tai chi sessions, walks in the park.
Instead, they found, many continued to stay home, alarmed by continuing reports of anti-Asian violence.
Nationwide, pandemic-related isolation, anti-Asian rhetoric and abuse – along with mass shootings that claimed Asian victims in Atlanta and California – have exacerbated the mental health challenges faced by Asian Americans in the last several years. Meanwhile, studies show Asian Americans are least likely to seek mental health services, partly because of the cultural stigma that exists around seeking such help.
The struggles faced by some segments of the community suggest post-pandemic challenges remain. Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were among the racial/ethnic groups that experienced the highest increases in suicides from 2021 to 2022, according to the CDC.
Community members and advocates say Asian Americans may be reluctant to seek mental healthcare for many reasons, especially given the wide range of experiences and cultural traditions depending on whether their heritage is, for example, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Hmong or South Asian.
The lack of culturally competent mental health providers is one that plagues most communities of color.
According to a 2020 American Psychological Association report, 84% of the psychology workforce is white, while Asians comprise just 4%.
That means Asian American clients face challenges finding mental health professionals aware of their lived experiences who can skillfully support them. The few therapists who do meet those qualifications often have workloads already stretched by the pandemic, with waitlists not uncommon.
Read more at USAToday.com.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.