By Nuren Nawar
Mental health involves one’s emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Our mental health is just as significant as our physical health, if not even more so. Every year, one in five Canadians are confronted with a mental illness. This is merely the prevalence of mental illness throughout Canadian society; there is an exceeding amount of the population that encounters struggles with their mental health. However, despite its prevalence and significance, mental health can often be completely disregarded, overlooked, undervalued, and gone untreated. This often leads to a lack of ability to cope with mental health struggles, which can further induce untreated mental illness. The issue of stigmatization of mental illness, and mental health in general, contributes to the negative views and dismissive reactions to mental health exist. Incorrect cultural and societal views and beliefs are the foundation of mental health stigmatization, and often contribute to its inconsistent presence and impact on various groups of people, specifically Asian Canadian people.
Race is a substantial factor to mental health stigmatization, and that is depicted through the fact that mental health stigma is exceedingly more present throughout communities of colour, and more specifically, immigrant communities of colour. However, it is less so race contributing to the aspect of mental health stigma, and more so the similar cultures of neglecting mental health throughout these racial groups. A plethora of factors ranging from familial pressure in all aspects of life, especially any academic and career aspects; to cultural pressure to fit a certain physical standard; to societal pressure to embody the “model minority myth” all contribute to the exceeding mental health issues among Asian communities. This means that there is an exceptional degree of necessity for mental health support for Asian Canadians. However due to the stigmatization of mental health ingrained into Asian culture and values, most Asian Canadians who need mental health support do not seek it. Asian culture stresses the significance of controlling and suppressing emotions, especially negative ones, such as sadness, anger, and/or shame. Furthermore, an abundance of Asian cultures are heavy on family values and natural remedies, which is problematic when it comes to the issue of seeking professional aid for mental health. These views and beliefs throughout Asian culture is a major contributor to the stigmatization of mental health throughout the community. While this negative culture is mainly perpetuated by older generations of Asians, it continues to discourage younger generations from seeking help for any of their mental health struggles. Oftentimes, those with mental health issues are villainized in Asian communities, especially with the ongoing belief that those with mental illnesses are dangerous, despite the fact that they tend to be the ones in danger. Refusal to believe in mental health, gaslighting the presence of any struggles with mental health, and the overall dismissal of these issues are extremely common with Asian parents, grandparents, and other authoritative figures. The mental health stigma perpetuated in Asian culture by older generations of Asians is internalized by younger generations, who may not agree with any of the negative views on mental health, but will end up projecting it through their lack of initiative, and often feelings of shame, when it comes to seeking mental health support. The stigma surrounding mental health leads to neglected mental health throughout the Asian community, which serves as an explanation for the fact that Asians have the highest rates of mental illness and suicide throughout their community.
The negative views on mental health, and mental illness has made mental health stigma a cultural tradition throughout Asian communities. As previously mentioned, mental health is an extremely significant aspect of life; it is just as, if not even more, crucial than physical health. Mental health issues, and our mental state impacts our character, our behavior, and how we treat others. Taking care of your mental health should always be a number one priority. However, there are a plethora of cultural and social factors that prevent us from taking care of our mental health that is demonstrated to us from an extremely young age. These cultural and social factors contribute to the stigmatization of mental health, and make those who are in the most need of aid and support be too afraid to attain it, and this includes marginalized communities. Due to the intense stigma surrounding mental health and seeking help, the cases of untreated mental illness, along with the suicide rate, are at an all time high for people within these communities. It is essential that we as a society work to combat mental health stigma, along with the various negative cultural and social beliefs, views, and perspectives on mental health that are the foundation of the stigma.
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