SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – While the beginning of Movember (Men’s Mental Health Month in November), a month focused on men’s mental health, overlapped with Halloween celebrations, advocates gathered at the Commonwealth Club for the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Youth Mental Health Summit to confront a rising crisis in a community often overlooked in mental health discussions.
Despite having one of the highest educational attainment rates in the U.S. — with 50 percent of AAPI individuals earning at least a bachelor’s degree compared to 30 percent of the general population — suicide remains the leading cause of death among AAPI youth.
Quynh Nguyen, Thriving AANHPI Leadership Accelerator Fellow, said the emotional burden carried by many young people is impossible to ignore.
“I think this idea of pressure, both internal and external, resonates with me so much because it’s coming from both sides, and it’s really important to recognize the combined impact,” Nguyen said.
More than one in four AAPI youth do not seek mental health services.
“I think that Asian communities are uniquely still stereotyped in U.S. society as a ‘model minority,’ which creates the pressure to live up to this stereotype,” wrote Executive Director of the Asian Mental Health Community, Ayesha Meer, in an exclusive email to the Davis Vanguard on Nov. 13. “I think because of the model minority myth we are made to feel that we need to be ‘successful’ or ‘well-adjusted’ and that we therefore must not acknowledge mental health struggles.”
Former psychologist and Man Forward founder Pheng Thao said gender expectations intensify the silence for many Asian American boys and men.
“If we look at it from a race lens, then you can really understand why Asian-American men are so silent because they’re not seen as masculine,” Thao said in a telephone interview. “Why Asian-American men are very silent about their help too is because (they are) trying not to be weak or seen as weak in this country already, sort of categorized as weak or not masculine or as lesser than men already.”
“When we’re not seen in those ways, there’s something wrong with us because of the racism,” Thao added. “The sexism part is ‘we must prove ourselves in our community, and we must be the ones who make the decisions in our community.’”
Man Forward works to help boys better understand their identity and emotions to prevent gender-based violence. Thao said boys are often taught not to show emotions because they are seen as “weak,” with anger treated as the only acceptable emotional outlet.
Thao added, “Shame, weakness, and strength (are) tied to this idea of what it means to be a man and what it means to be masculine – the strongness, not showing any signs that you don’t have it all together, any exposure of bad, any inclining that there might be something wrong with you that brings shame to that person and opens a hole for transphobia and homophobia to actually happen as well.”
When asked what the government could do to address these challenges, Thao emphasized culturally informed responses and community-based resources.
He argued that more investment is needed to build systems “to help folks in their communities manage and navigate mental health issues as they arise in the community and be able to talk about it in the community” because “more visibility to be able to amplify the experiences of the nuances and how mental health is seen” is needed.
Thao also said terminology matters, noting that in the Hmong language, mental health is referred to as “crazy,” posing a barrier to care. “We need to understand how this group of people really experiences depression. Do (other communities) call depression something else?”
Meer agreed that federal support remains inadequate.
“I would like to see a response from the U.S. government that includes greater funding for healthcare as a whole and mental health care in particular,” she wrote. “I don’t believe we will be able to solve the youth mental health crisis while so many of our youth are un or underinsured, and while Medicaid eligibility rules make it so difficult for youth in need to access good quality care.”
With cuts to mental health services under the Trump administration, advocates say these calls continue to go unanswered.
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
“More than one in four AAPI youth do not seek mental health services.”
So three in four do? Is that implied to be a low number? I’m not sure what this stat, worded that way, is supposed to convey.