Mental Health & the 1.5 Generation + Beyond

I attended a series of mental health talks sponsored by the Asian American Women's Association a few weeks ago, and really feel compelled to share what I've heard there. I actually decided to do my journalism final project on this topic as well.

The first talk featured visiting Asian American history professor, Eric Tang. He talked about the findings from the National Latino and Asian American Study, the largest and most recent national study on these minorities and their mental health statistics.

One of the most interesting points in his talk was the "lack of reciprocity" that he said Asian Americans have experienced. Tang said that Asian American mental health is very much a part of American history, that the exclusion acts in the late to mid-19th century created this "lack of reciprocity" or "break from reality" for Asian Americans. In other words, the identity they see of themselves, as capable citizens who can do as much as any other white American, is not reciprocated back to them in society.

Tang said: "Imagine a world where you wake up every morning and have a sense of yourself but none of who you believe yourself to be is reciprocated in the world, none of that is reflected back. Eventually, according to modern psychology, there's a breakdown, where you are no longer able to even see yourself, to distinguish yourself from the rest of the world, and that...is in effect, mental illness...

"And if you think about the history of Asian Americans in this country...so much of who Asian Americans are and how they've been defined in this country has been based on an exclusion and very little of it has been based on a reciprocal understanding of who we are as it's reflected back in broader society."

Another interesting parts of his talk was on the findings in the National Latino and Asian Study, the largest study of its kind to study these minorities and their mental health needs and situations. The NLAAS found that the 1.5 generation (generation that immigrated to the U.S. as very young children) and beyond (second generation, for example) are more likely than their immigrant parents to have emotional disorders. The reason being, that the parents already formed their identity and had it reciprocated for most of their lives in their homeland. When they come to a new country like the U.S., they expect to be treated differently.

That makes sense to me. Most immigrants come to the U.S. with a specific goal, and though they face discrimination, they also get some slack for being foreigners, and they have a strong sense of self that reassure them in their new surroundings.

But for the 1.5 generation and beyond, they were born here or came when they were very young; they are expected to succeed and fit in, and yet are not treated like they belong. The racism is more subtle for the 1.5 generation and beyond, and thus more difficult to deal with.

When I heard this, I was like, finally! I can tell my parents that it isn't just that us kids (the second generation) aren't simply lazy or indecisive—although we have more opportunities than our parents, we're also facing more difficult, insidious discrimination.

I think for me, it may not have been as much of an issue, because I grew up in an pretty Asian-dominated area. But I can imagine how it is like for those who truly are a minority in their community. And we can still see this in the glass ceilings that usually exist for Asian Americans in the workforce. We also have to fight the model minority myth. According to articles I've read, many Asian American students who don't fit the myth (are not straight A students) often get neglected in the school system, or feel extreme pressure to conform and feel depressed when they cannot.

So, it makes sense that our generation has a higher risk for mental health issues. We're expected by our parents to make them proud of their investment in us by excelling in school and career, and we're also expected to excel in society, yet at the same time, we often can't reach our goals b/c we are still the minority with the lowest population in the U.S. (although we're also the fastest growing) and still meet with subtle, if not outright, discrimination.