U.S. Asian Immigrants at Lower Mental Health Risk

[kalbi]

Really no surprise there, if you sit down to think about it.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20061201/hl_hsn/usasianimmigrantsatlowermentalhealthrisk

U.S. Asian Immigrants at Lower Mental Health Risk

Thu Nov 30, 11:47 PM ET

THURSDAY, Nov. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Asian immigrants in the United States have lower rates of mental health problems than people, including those of Asian descent, who were born in the country, a new study finds.

For example, the study found that American-born women are twice as likely to have a depressive disorder as Asian-born women living in the United States.

The researchers interviewed nearly 2,100 native-born or immigrant Asian Americans, 18 and older, about their history of a number of mental health problems: depression, anxiety, phobias, eating disorders, substance and alcohol abuse, and post traumatic stress disorder.

"Roughly 48 percent of Americans will have some kind of lifetime disorder. In our study, less than one in four Asian-American immigrants will have a disorder. However, that won't necessarily be the case for their children and grandchildren. If trends continue, rates for them will go up, and that suggests that more investment is needed for prevention programs," study lead author David Takeuchi, a sociologist and social work professor at the University of Washington, said in a prepared statement.

Other findings from the study:

* There were no significant differences among the main Asian immigrant groups in the United States -- Chinese, Filipinos and Vietnamese.
* Among Asian men, those born elsewhere are less likely to have a substance abuse problem than those born in the United States.
* Asian immigrants who arrived in the United States as elementary school-age children have an easier time learning English than older children but are more likely to develop a substance abuse problem.

Takeuchi said this study raised issues that warrant further investigation. For example, he'd like to compare the mental health circumstances of immigrants who voluntarily migrate and those who are refugees.

"Someone who is a voluntary immigrant doesn't typically suffer the severe trauma that a refugee who is fleeing persecution or war does," Takeuchi said.

He also wants to investigate how discrimination impacts the mental health of Asian Americans.

More information

The U.S. Surgeon General has more about Asian Americans and mental health.


I've lived in different places around the world and travelled really extensively, and overall, life in America is a high-stress environment. More so than almost any continent/nation on earth (I can think of Japan/Tokyo as the one possible exception). This is my own subjective assessment.

And I'm not necessarily talking about big-city life either. Even when you step away from the light-speed pace of major cities like NYC and LA, you still tend to suffer from less apparent sources of stress, for example things like the effects of racial discrimination or just being race-conscious (that's just one example). I'm not talking about blatant mistreatment from the ethnic majority either - merely thinking about and being over-conscious of race can take a toll on you. It's very exhausting.

I guess no matter where you go one will always find 'locally relevan't neuroses to latch onto to fuck themselves up (i.e. if you go to a place where racial factors can't stress you out, you'll latch onto other non-race related things (like status of money or women) to stress yourself out)... but this short article is interesting to read for Asian-Americans whose homes are in the US, and must either deal with this or continue to suffer.

[kalbi]

I should fine-tune some of my points.


I wasn't surprised to read that article which pointed out the differences between the psychological pathologies of Asian immigrants and Asian-Americans. Asian-Americans just deal with an over-load of RACIALIZED psychological input which overwhelm them, in many cases. That will happen when you're such a vulnerable minority - hence the prevalence of CCBism, general culture/ethnicity-based self-loathing, misplaced racial allegiance (thinking you're white), etc. among people of Asian descent all across the country.

I know this one guy, early 30s, who's pretty good looking, and decent with girls and appears to live a fairly well-rounded life. But he's totally WRACKED with racial complexes which he mentally redefines as 'fact' - such as the (in descending order) "Black-White-Asian" racial-sexual pecking order. He quite lterally seems to believe that racial stereotypes are defined to an overwhelming extent by biology. He talks openly about this as though his "honesty" should be commended and the "PC posturing" of society should be condemned, but I think he's misguided.

I truly do feel sorry for this guy. This is ALL HE KNOWS. 30 years of growing up in a universe that measures achievements, supposed prowess in various activities (physical, mental) by RACE. He has no other reality, even though he is pretty damn aware and cognizant of the damaging effects of growing up wracked by racial complexes. Aware as he is, he simply cannot break away.

Basically, the US is a perfect breeding ground for Asian craziness. A fertile petri-dish growth culture for Asian-American insanity. All the evidence is there. Think about how Hawaiian Asian-Americans grow up, as the ethnic majority, then compare it to mainland Asian-Americans. Many of us mainlanders are struck by just how well-adjusted they are. Asian immigrants probably deal less with similar psychological effects too, but for different reasons:


(1) Sheltered/secluded from the white-majority psychological assault (both personal and thru media) in ethnic enclaves and mono-racial social circles.

(2) Genuinely strong self-perception - years of healthy psychological development can't be seriously dented by off-handed comments.

[Hater Depot]

Roughly 48 percent of Americans will have some kind of lifetime disorder.


...really? What are they counting as a 'lifetime disorder'?

[Heyyu]

Well no surprise, it's mainly because of the "pressure": Study hard, get into a "prestigious" school (Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, John Hopkins, etc), get a good job, etc.

I mean, seriously, in no other culture does a person feel like a failure if they don't get a scholarship into Harvard. And you always have that whole minority model myth hanging over your head whether you're in school or working (so you always think you can do better).

And then of course the whole dating aspect where you're always second-class to the white man (to both Asian and white girls) and you don't have that "black dick" or "Latino lover" stereotype to help you out either (not to say that those stereotypes can't be a hindrance either).

For an Asian immigrant, they don't "internalize" the stereotypes as much until they actually land on American shores and live here for awhile (about the only thing that carries over to American shores is the "studying" pressure).

I mean, geeze louize, if I have a kid I'm not going to give 'em that pressure to get into a top-notch school or try to pigeonhole my kid into a selective career path if they don't want to.

[kalbi]

I mean, geeze louize, if I have a kid I'm not going to give 'em that pressure to get into a top-notch school or try to pigeonhole my kid into a selective career path if they don't want to.



No man.

If I were you, I would ARM my boy with the necessary tools to deal with a world that hates them. I would still expect a certain degree of academic success from him, but sure not to the 'life-or-death, get-into-an-Ivy' level. But I would also emphasize having a healthy social life, and also physical fitness and team sports (no, not fucking TRACK or TENNIS. :lol: ), and above all I'll make sure he doesn't become this uber-sensitive, emotional GOOBER that has no clue how to deal with females.

I honestly believe that the biggest failure of Asian immigrant parents was their neglecting the preparation of their children for social aptitude - within the AMERICAN MODEL. But to be totally honest there was nothing they could've done about it, as immigrants with no knowledge of the social aspects of American culture. Many of us in the 'inbetweener' generation were just the 'casualities of war', so to speak.


Not telling you how to raise your kid - but that's what I would do.

[Heyyu]

If I were you, I would ARM my boy with the necessary tools to deal with a world that hates them. I would still expect a certain degree of academic success from him, but sure not to the 'life-or-death, get-into-an-Ivy' level.

Well of course I would want my kid to be educated. But I want to prepare my kid for the school of hard knocks (aka life).

I mean, despite the myth that Asians value education, no we don't. Asians value the STATUS of education. Not what you actually learn (I doubt many Asian parents actually give a shit about the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson). Just so long as their kids get that A+ in the course (and then brag to all the other Asian parents about how great their kid is).

So a college education is important, but not the only thing that matters. I want my kid to be educated in the sense that they're knowledgeable about the world. And I want them to actually be interested in what they learn and be quite independent and think for themselves. I would encourage them to sharpen their minds and be ready to take on whatever life throws their way (since life can throw a lot of crap at you).

But I would ditch that whole rat-race mindset of Asian parents that your self-worth is defined solely by the college that you went to (since that's neither beneficial to the kid and ignores the bigger issue of how to deal with the world AFTER you graduate college). Which is when the real learning begins (and where many Asians feel left out in the cold because all our Asian parents ever told us was "Study hard and get into a good school!").

But they never really mentioned much about relationship woes or what happens when "your colleagues suck and your boss is a bitch." Of course, our Asian parents answer would be, "Work harder!"

[ZhuBaJie]

Um... yeah, maybe look at the study that the article cites before jumping on a bandwagon would be a good idea:

Clickety (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17138908&query_hl=4&itool=pubmed_docsum)

Objectives. We examined lifetime and 12-month rates of any depressive, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders in a national sample of Asian Americans. We focused on factors related to nativity and immigration as possible correlates of mental disorders. Methods. Data were derived from the National Latino and Asian American Study, the first national epidemiological survey of Asian Americans in the United States. Results. The relationships between immigration-related factiors and mental disorders were different for men and women. Among women, nativity was strongly associated with lifetime disorders, with immigrant women having lower rates of most disorders compared with US-born women. Conversely, English proficiency was associated with mental disorders for Asian men. Asian men who spoke English proficiently generally had lower rates of lifetime and 12-month disorders compared with nonproficient speakers. Conclusions. For Asian Americans, immigration-related factors were associated with mental disorders, but in different ways for men and women. Future studies will need to examine gender as an important factor in specifying the association between immigration and mental health.

which means, assuming that immigrant Asian men are usually not as proficient in English as US-born Asian men are, US-born Asian men are actually less at risk of mental illness than immigrant Asian men are.

[tkguy]

How does a report go from being about the mental health of each gender of the asian race to being summed up by the following?

Among Asian men, those born elsewhere are less likely to have a substance abuse problem than those born in the United States.

Like a sophisticated creepy asiaphile picked and choosed what part of the report to present to the public.

Yahoo news and the Surgeon General's Report do not refer to the most intriguing part of the report. That asian females born overseas have much less psychological issues than those who grow up in the us. This says so much. This is implying that the colorblind crap that so many are pushing is driving people who live by it crazy. It shows that that this supposingly docile presentation by the media that asian girls are sexy is hurting them mentally. This shows that the uneven treatment that af and am receive in the us is actually hurting af more than am. This shows that ams are making healthier life choices than af in the us in regards to their mental well being.

I really don't understand why the report talks about how asian men who don't speak english well have more psychological problems. That's like saying a guy who doesn't go to college will not do as well as a guy who graduated. Of course a person who can't communicate with the people of the country he resides in will have problems. I think this part was just put in to mitigate the find that asian females in america are messed up by the society here. I am not surprised seeing how the study is authored also by a few white people.

[Scowl]

Like a sophisticated creepy asiaphile picked and choosed what part of the report to present to the public.

I bet it was a Jew, too.