With the recent media barrage of the Virginia Tech killer Seung Cho - with the images and video of the killer plastered on MSNBC and the slight fear and dread that this will all turn into an iconic image similar to a jet plane crashing over and over again into the World Trade Center - there’s also been increased coverage of his history with mental illness; a 2005 detention order stating that officials have “probable cause to believe … [that Cho] is mentally ill and in need of hospitalization, and presents an imminent danger to self or others as a result of mental illness, or is seriously mentally ill as to be substantially unable to care for” himself.
To me, it just brings up the issue of Asian immigrants, Asian Americans and the stigma of mental illness. Of course, most people who are mentally ill do not commit violent acts, but it’s a subject that hits close to home because I have a sister that has been diagnosed with bipolar schizophrenia. While I’m not going to speak on behalf on all Asian-Americans (Christ, when have I ever?) I can tell you that the idea of mental illness is something difficult for my family to accept, even to this day; the “public face” is a big deal in Chinese culture, and the concept of psychologists and psychiatrists are relatively unfamiliar at best, and “weird” and “foreign” at worst. Only when the situation is dire (In my case, its when my sister ran away from home at 23 to meet someone she met in her mind) does the situation get the attention it deserves; by then, it might be too little, too late.
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Akrypti wrote:
Powerful and well-articulated post.
The Asian community, in particular the generation right above ours, seems to be proud of the model minority myth perpetuated by White Anglo Saxon Protestant America. Not to mention the deeply-rooted “face” concept is the dominating factor in almost every act, thought, or decision.
The Asian American community should not disown Cho as it has with all its “just because the psycho killer was Asian doesn’t mean we’re all like that” defensive arguments and instead, we ought to assume responsibility and say to ourselves, “we could have taken better care of this person and thereby prevented the massacre.”
Posted on 19-Apr-07 at 5:02 pm | Permalink
Matt Clark wrote:
Fascinating post, Ernie.
Posted on 19-Apr-07 at 6:19 pm | Permalink
james wrote:
I think this is a very good point. Recently CNN had a report on Cho’s relatives in South Korea, specifically his great aunt who revealed that Cho had been quiet since he was a child and that they always suspected he may have had some sort of mental illness. She would call Cho’s mother, who constantly worried about him since he was so non-communicative and distant. We won’t know why no action was taken by his parents regarding these ‘problems’, but one reason could be the stigma attached to mental illness by certain Asian cultures. Mental illnesses are not thought of as clinical illnesses, but rather a certain ‘craziness’ that should not be revealed and can be treated by simply ‘growing up’ or whatnot.
Unfortunately, I have been personally affected by these kinds of attitudes as well. My cousin had depression and committed suicide at 16, right around when I was 14. My aunt and uncle never got her the treatment she needed despite the fact that she had displayed serious signs of depression and thoughts of suicide. To this day, I don’t blame them for anything, but I do think that mental illness is a topic that needs to be addressed in a more serious manner as an attitudinal talking point within Asian culture. I hope for the sake of others that nothing like what happened to my cousin occurs because of inaction or ‘traditional’ belief.
Posted on 19-Apr-07 at 8:16 pm | Permalink
John wrote:
Yes, mental illness is a VERY taboo subject to Asians/Asian-Americans. I had recently heard this on the radio earlier this year:
Suicide Among Asian American Women
KQED. Pacific Time
2007-03-01
Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for Asian-American women between 25 and 34 years old, behind cancer and accidents. Young Asian-American women are more likely to commit suicide than white, Latina or African-American women. Asian-American teens are also more
at risk than their counterparts. The challenges of immigration and assimilation often play a large role.
Listen at:
http://www.kqed.org/programs/program-landing.jsp?progID=RD37
Posted on 19-Apr-07 at 9:19 pm | Permalink
June wrote:
I am really glad you brought this up. I also came from a family that needed counseling, but I knew that my family would never do that. As a child, it left me feeling very helpless. I survived, only through the fortunate guidance of one of my older brothers.
My mother, however, did not get the medical help that she needed, and as a result, she took her own life. It has been a burden of guilt on my family, knowing that this could have been somehow prevented.
I hope that from stories like this, that families, Asian and otherwise, learn to understand the consequences of not addressing mental illness properly, and that there can be productive solutions. Thanks so much for bringing this important perspective to light.
Posted on 20-Apr-07 at 7:52 am | Permalink
rom wrote:
Most White people would not classify themselves as WASP as that would be an elite wealthy group. Unless your specifically talking about the wealthy group. I am not sure about that WASP perpetuate the model myth anymore then the “Asian Elders” do. I agree there is a pride I have seen, which often degrading to other groups…
On owning or disowning Cho. It is way to simple, their are too many people that take too much pride when someone from their culture “scores” in whatever pursuit. I liken it to when your city or univeristies team wins the superbowl or some type of sporting event. Then someone says, ah we one the superbowl. No those athletes did, not you. I say don’t own the good nor the bad in someone elses acheivements or failures. However, that does not mean someone shouldn’t have tried to help Cho. In fact I am certain many did. I know from own teaching experience we can’t save everyone, despite our best efforts!
Posted on 20-Apr-07 at 10:45 am | Permalink
Andy wrote:
My beau is Filipino and sometimes I feel like there is this emotional barrier to really getting to the core of what he means or wants or is saying. I liken it to my buddy who studied over in the UK and said there was an emotional point where you just couldn’t get past. I am not always sure if it is personal, familial or cultural. Sometimes it is all very indirect communication styles and it drives me batty. I think the mental illness taboo is very apt. The dynamics of his friendships are very different than mine - again not always sure if it is personal, familiar or cultural (or maybe is just me!
). Great post!
Posted on 20-Apr-07 at 12:47 pm | Permalink
tim wrote:
What is mental illness? They thought Jesus Chris was mentally deranged for claiming his relationship with God. They also though Siddhartha was crazy for giving us his worldly processions to reach ultimate spiritual enlightenments.
Posted on 21-Apr-07 at 11:58 am | Permalink
8 Asians » Push to achieve tied to suicide in Asian-American women wrote:
[...] While I think this is a very valid and likely reason that Asian-American women who commit suicide do so, I think it ignores potential mental health issues that may be related. Are these women clinically depressed? Have they received any treatment? Did they have social issues? Did they possibly use drugs? There are any number of other reasons that could have also pushed them to the point of suicide, but I think it’s easy to put it under the “push to achieve” umbrella and blame the Model Minority expections. I’m not saying culture and achievement don’t have a major part in this; they probably do. [...]
Posted on 16-May-07 at 12:11 pm | Permalink
8 Asians » Push to achieve tied to… deception? wrote:
[...] Mix that in with the stigma of mental illness, and you have a bitter recipe. One that puts perhaps an unrealistic burden on children, without the necessary emotional and social support they’d need to properly cope. [...]
Posted on 26-May-07 at 4:13 pm | Permalink
Adam wrote:
I appreciate the article and comments. I’m Asiam Am and was diagnosed Bipolar and ADHD during college. I dealt with severe alienation from my family - they specifically told me to hide the mental illnesses from anyone as best I could. I didn’t hide it, and told my friends about it, but still felt I paid a price in terms of the reactions within my Asian Am community. Too often I was laughed at to my face. Too often I heard the typical Asian male response of “you gotta get accountable, like a man, forget those pills.” This all went down around 10 years ago, so who knows, maybe the community is slightly more educated now.
At this point, I don’t think our focus should be on the older generation - they’re basically set in their ways. I think our complete focus should be on educating our peers and supporting each other through these real, medical conditions. After that, we should focus on the generation that’s coming after us.
Posted on 06-Jul-07 at 4:44 pm | Permalink
8Asians.com » Asian American Mental Health Services wrote:
[...] Asian-Americans and the Mental Illness Stigma from 8Asians.com [...]
Posted on 25-Nov-07 at 7:23 am | Permalink