Home2018September 2018 - Page 2 of 2 - Asian Articulations

In my last post, Asian American Mental Health: Confusing Doing Well with Feeling Well, I described my life with bipolar disorder, lack of family support, a friend’s suicide, and my diagnosis at 18-years old.   Also, there were a bunch of Rocky Balboa and boxing metaphors. Working in mental health nonprofit, I’ve seen countless end the stigma campaigns, which are valuable. But there are many other obstacles we rarely discuss.  For instance, if someone comes to...

I saw this tweet from Louis Leung a week ago, and immediately thought of a half dozen Asians and Asian Americans whom I know have suffered silently for years, if not decades.  I was one of them, but no longer.  A friend finally convinced me that admitting I had a problem, like an alcoholic does at an AA meeting, was braver than trying to gut it out alone.  That seeking and finding professional help for mental health...

I was a junior in college. It was the third consecutive day that I spent in bed. I was on a steady diet of cereal and potato chips. A box of Kleenex and unopened textbooks lay on my bed. This was another sporadic episode of depression. Bipolar disorder does not care about your deadlines. I had homework to finish, and I was competing with my Speech Team at Nationals in a few days. Realizing I...

Crazy Rich Asians has become our Rorschach test. It comes at an incredible time when the Great Asian Awakening has finally, permanently awakened. Some Asians are pissed, some are ecstatic and whatever feelings you have are likely based on how you feel about Asian-America. For me, Crazy Rich Asians was my frustration and pain of constant rejections from a white-dominated publishing industry that wouldn’t accept Asian-based stories they felt were too “unsafe”. “Your writing is wonderful, but...

I’ve been depressed the past few days.  There are many difficult aspects to depression and one of them is being productive.  When you’re depressed, each task requires energy and answering an inbox full of emails is intimidating.  Having bipolar 2, I sometimes wish there was a “pause” button I could hit when things get rough.  Fortunately and unfortunately, life goes on when you’re depressed.  I first started honing strategies to combat depression’s effects on productivity when I was a...

If you’re Asian American, the chances are, you’ve heard this question more than once. You probably smiled, more to cover up your horror at the questioner’s ignorance than to put them at ease.  Or, if you’re like me, your eyes almost roll out of your head, because you know the questioner is expecting an answer different from, say, “Texas.”  Maybe the questioner is actually being sincere, and this does happen, albeit rarely.  I raised my...