Why Are Asian-American Women Prone To Suicidal Tendencies?
Kate Harding —A recent study found that U.S.-born Asian-American women are more likely than other groups to consider and attempt suicide. NPR’s Michel Martin asked lead author Aileen Duldulao and Disgrasian co-founder Jen Wang for their thoughts on why that might be. Though some obvious disclaimers need to come before any generalizations — like that “Asian-American” is a ridiculously broad term, there hasn’t been enough research and, according to Duldulao, “there’s still lot of competing ideas out there” — both women offered some strong opinions on the matter. Wang — the daughter of immigrants and a depressive who “probably will be [in therapy] for life, just because I actually enjoy it a lot” — says the “achievement-oriented culture” in many Asian-American families, combined with a tendency to see mental health issues as failure, is a one-two punch that can lead to depression going undiagnosed and untreated. “I mean, when I was growing up, there wasn’t even a word for depression. It w
