 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||
Breaking the Silence: Recognizing V-Tech Shootings is an issue of Unequal Mental Health Care Services
By Jason Jaewan Lee
4/23/07
The Virginia Tech shootings highlight the disparities in mental care for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AA/PIs). As the media coverage surrounding the Virginia Tech Shootings continues the hope of these unmet needs being addressed by society diminishes as news continues to leave out this vital discussion. Instead the media chooses to focus on gun control, school security, and the individual psychology of the shooter as the causes of the violence. South Koreans abroad are propped up to display their guilt and condolences for the victims; Cho Seung-Hui’s own family shamefully denounces and disowns him—all of which further distract from the heart of the matter—how did Cho fall through the cracks?
Six Million American men will be diagnosed with depression this year alone, but like Cho, millions more will suffer silently in the shadows-undiagnosed or unwilling to come forward for treatment; few studies examine the response of minorities to mental health treatment. And in particular, there is a scarcity of knowledge on the mental health needs of AA/PIs. What little we do know is that older Asian American women have the highest suicide rate of women over age of 65 in the US. In addition, national epidemiological studies have included few AA/PIs and yet to include the broad cross section of AA/PIs which is comprised of 43 different ethnic subgroups.
The scientific neglect of the AA/PA community only compounds the fact that AA/PIs have low utilization of mental health services. One study reveals only 17 percent of those experiencing problems sought care mostly after disturbances became severe. This is because treatment goes undetected, ignored or delayed until symptoms reach crisis proportion-due to shame, stigma or misdiagnosis. For Korean Americans, mental disorders are associated with craziness, biological defect, and social acceptability, as a result psychiatric services are avoided altogether and problems internalized.
