Us media: Asians suffer from a high proportion of depression, and Chinese commit suicide frequently.

Sugita/kloc-suicide diary of 0/9 years old.

Isabel finished the woodcarving work House of the Soul.

According to a report compiled by Qiao Bao, the number of people suffering from mental illness in the United States is expected to reach 57 million. If we study by race, we may find that there are very few people suffering from depression in Asian groups, and the overall suicide rate is low. At the same time, there are not as many people seeking psychotherapy as other ethnic minorities.

But this is not necessarily the case, but their culture has led to this situation.

■ story

Thousands of miles apart, they have the same growing environment.

Isabelle Thuy Pelaud and Danise Sugita are both Asian, but their backgrounds are different. Isabel is a half-breed of Vietnamese and French. She was born in France and immigrated to the United States at the age of 19. Sugita is a fourth-generation Japanese immigrant who was born and raised in Ontario, Southern California.

Two women grew up in completely different environments, but at the age of 19, they made the same choice-suicide. Sugita and Isabel committed suicide for similar reasons, including living environment and mental health.

When you first meet Sugita, you may think she is beautiful and optimistic. She is 28 years old and lives in Brooklyn, fighting for the rights and interests of young people who can't get a good growth environment. Sugita is not that talkative advocate. She is very quiet. When talking about herself or her family, she is afraid to look directly at others.

"When I was very young, when I can just remember things, I remember that every time I heard my parents arguing loudly and my father throwing things everywhere, I would hide in my room and hold the doll or try to appease myself," Sugita recalled.

Whenever she talks about it, she can't make eye contact with others. She went on to explain that fear was one of the strongest feelings in her childhood, and this feeling may last until her adulthood. Sugita still remembers that campus life was an extremely lonely experience.

Thousands of miles away in France, Isabel had the same experience in high school. Asian descent kept Isabel away from her extended family. "My mother was never accepted by her husband's extended family in France. They often regarded us as complete strangers, even aliens from other planets," Isabel recalled.

Similar to Sugita, Isabel recalled that her parents always quarreled. Isabel is currently teaching at San Francisco State University. She is beautiful and confident, both a poet and an artist, which she never dreamed of when she was a child. In Isabel's memory, the children at school always ignored her and played tricks on her whenever they had time. Sugita and Isabel struggled in middle school, and so did they in high school. Then at the age of 19, their patience reached its limit.

blasting fuse

Sugita accidentally turned to the diary she recorded when she was 19 years old. Although it has only been written for a few months, it is very important. She turned to her diary on February 2, 2002, when she was still living at home in Ontario. "'I can hear what grandma and mom are saying, and I think they want to call the poison control center or something', which is the last sentence written in my last day's diary." Sugita said.

When Sugita read her diary loudly, it sounded like she was talking about other people's business. But when asked about the specific situation of the day, Sugita subconsciously moved her chair and explained that she swallowed a bottle of pills that day. Sugita said calmly, "I poured a lot of pills into my mouth, then went to the pool to drink water, and finally swallowed the whole bottle of medicine."

Sugita can't remember anything after that. She remembers that her sister found her vomiting on the bathroom floor, and her mother and grandmother were scared to make a hullabaloo about. Then she called 9 1 1, and then she woke up in the hospital. Sugita said, "I was very sad and angry. I hope I don't wake up. "

On the other side of the globe, Isabel is also 19 years old, still suffering from great loneliness, so that she can't even speak.

"In the first 19 years of my life, I was completely silent, my voice was very low, and I stuttered when I wanted to talk," Isabel said. "This is not natural, and it has nothing to do with my being an Asian. It is entirely the environment that forces me to be silent, because I feel that I am not qualified to speak. When you can't speak, or feel that you have no right to speak, silence will internalize and devour this person. "

This sense of isolation was so strong that Isabel chose to commit suicide. She didn't want to say what overwhelmed her that day, but she admitted that she wanted to commit suicide more than once. Isabel said, "Nobody wants to listen to me."

Choose suicide or choose treatment.

/kloc-after committing suicide at the age of 0/9, Sugita and Isabel chose different paths in the treatment of mental illness. Although the family did not support it, Sugita chose psychotherapy after all. She tried inpatient and outpatient treatment, group therapy and antidepressant treatment. However, Sugita claims that these treatments have not yet produced results. Her last suicide was in 20 10, when she was 26 years old.

Sugita sighed, "I still feel about life. I have no confidence in the future. I don't know whether I will get better or worse. This idea is really frustrating. "

Sugita said that she was still depressed and still didn't get any help. But at least she can say it now, which is a living example for others who need early treatment.

When Isabel was as old as Sugita, she was still running away from the fact that she had committed suicide. Isabel said, "I put a lot of energy into moving forward and trying to forget who I used to be." I want to kill her and erase myself. "

When Isabel immigrated to America, her English was poor, and she had no money or insurance.

It was not until her forties that Isabel began to accept herself in the past. At that time, she met Asian artist Cynthia Tom. Tang asked a question that changed her mental state: "What would it be like if you had a place of your own?"

After weeks of discussion, planning, shaping and construction, Isabel finished the woodcarving work "A Place Belonging to Her" and covered the roof with a feather. Isabel said that feathers reminded her of suicide, because when she was in adversity, a feather fell from the roof, and when it fell into her hands, it changed her fate.

In 20 10, Isabel's House of the Soul was exhibited at the driftwood salon in Los Angeles. She likes the activity of "House of the Soul" very much, and took part in it again on 20 1 1.

For Isabel and Sugita, it was not a day's work to cure depression and suicide. The experience of trying to commit suicide will accompany them for life. But these two Asian women have gradually found courage and released the troubles that have been suppressed for a long time.

■ research

The proportion of Asian women suffering from depression is very high.

According to Radio KALW in San Francisco, a few weeks ago, KALW reported the mental health status of Asian groups continuously. Generally speaking, Asian groups often wait for a long time before seeking mental health treatment, and finally seek expert diagnosis until the problem is very serious.

This situation is particularly evident in Asian women.

According to the research of the National Mental Illness Federation, the proportion of Asian women aged 15 to 24 suffering from depression is higher than that of any other race or age group.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the suicide rate of young Asian women ranked second in the same age group, and the same situation also appeared among Asian women over 65.

In the second part of the KALW series, "Mental Health in Asia: From the Inside", Erica Mu introduces the stories of two Asian women suffering from depression.

■ Analysis

Cultural characteristics make Asians tend to help themselves.

There is no single index to judge how suicidal a person is, and there is little research on the causes of suicide, let alone the motives of Asian women to commit suicide. However, Zhu Zhuai, a clinical psychologist, said that experts believe that if Sugita and Isabel can receive professional help as soon as possible, the situation may be different.

Chu explained: "Before accepting help from others, Asians tend to solve their distress and emotional problems through cultural practice. But when Asians finally seek professional help, their mental health problems are already quite serious, much more serious than other ethnic groups. "

In addition, even if you meet someone with depression or suicidal thoughts, you may not realize it. Chu said, "A lot of data proves that Asians are more willing to show physical pain than emotional distress. Therefore, when you chat with a depressed Asian, they may not say things like' Hey, I'm sad, I cry every day, I'm depressed'. Instead, they will say something like' I have a headache and a stomachache'. "

It is precisely because of this performance that psychiatrists often miss the information about depression. Of course, this is only based on patients seeking help from doctors.

Zhang Chunru, a Chinese-American writer who is famous for his book Nanjing Massacre, committed suicide at the age of 36, allegedly because of depression. Information photo

■ Link

Suicides occur frequently in China.

On April 6th, Wang Qinggen, a 40-year-old Chinese engineer in Silicon Valley, was found committing suicide in his garage. Wang Qinggen, a graduate of Stanford University in high flyers, committed suicide by hanging himself because of excessive work pressure and long-term depression.

On March 26th, a China woman surnamed Zheng committed suicide by jumping off a building in the "Beverly Building" apartment for the elderly in Montebello. In June last year,165438+1October, a middle-aged woman in China committed suicide by jumping off the roof of her apartment and fell to her death in the same place.

On March 25th, a Chinese man jumped off the track at Grand Street subway station in Chinatown, San Francisco, and ran into the oncoming D train. Was sent to Biaowai Hospital for emergency treatment. Fortunately, there was no danger to his life, but the man was still begging for mercy after waking up.

65438+1At the beginning of 0/0, a China girl 15 years old who just immigrated to the United States for two months committed suicide by bus because she couldn't stand being bullied by her classmates. According to some studies, more than half of China students are bullied at school.

2011/On February 20th, an 80-year-old Chinese woman hanged herself in her apartment in San Francisco's Chinatown. China's elderly living in the United States do face many difficulties, such as poor language communication skills, meager income, family conflicts caused by cultural differences, loss of social independence due to old age, children working at ordinary times and no one to take care of the elderly.

201110/On October 3rd, Chen, an Afghan soldier who was only 19 years old, was shot and killed at the US military post in China. At that time, he had been in Afghanistan for less than two months. Chen was physically abused and racially insulted by his boss. To this end, the House of Representatives passed an anti-bullying bill, aiming at preventing bullying incidents in the military. (Overseas Chinese News Compiled Marcos Report)