“Vibrant” is how Caroline Poisson describes her seven-year-old son. “He’s incredible, enthusiastic and curious,” she said. “And then there’s a side of what we call kryptonite and we talk about his ADHD brain, where there are some things that are just really hard for him.”
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Kids have a lot to learn in their first five years of life. They learn to walk, talk, and eventually to start reading. But while kids can pick up walking and talking naturally, they must be taught how to read. Children who struggle with the building blocks of reading may be at risk for developing dyslexia. Read more ›
Racism and xenophobia take a serious toll on Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Research has found that racism and discrimination have a significant negative impact on mental health. In addition, communities subjected to othering by the dominant racial group are prone to mental health concerns, including an increased risk for anxiety and depression.
Online resources can be a particularly important tool for providing advice, support, and information on mental health for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Read more ›
A study found stigmas that associate mental illness with disability are the largest barrier to Asian Americans accessing mental healthcare. Read more ›
It’s important to recognize that the term “AAPI” (Asian American / Pacific Islander) encompasses a wide range of countries, ethnicities, nationalities, and identities. Many different communities within AAPI label face their own unique challenges: from the trauma faced by those who survived wars in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam; Japanese Americans who remember the internment camps of the WW2 era; or the anxiety felt by the children of first-generation immigrants to reconcile their cultural heritage with American life. Read more ›
Anti-Asian rhetoric and incidents have been on the rise in recent years, spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
These types of events reinforce trauma and fear within the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community and have profound effects on mental and physical health, says Gilbert Gee, PhD, professor in the Department. of Community Health Sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
“People’s reports of discrimination and unfair treatment have been linked to major depressive disorders, clinical anxiety disorders and mood disorders,” Dr. Gee says. “It takes a pretty large toll on people’s mental health.” Read more ›
Mental health stigma affects all ethnicities, cultures, and nationalities, but Asian Americans may be more impacted than most.
The National Latino and Asian American Study reported that while 18% of the general U.S. population sought mental health services and resources, only 8.6% of Asian Americans did so. A related study found that white U.S. citizens take advantage of mental health services at three times the rate of Asian Americans.
So, why don’t most Asian Americans seek help for mental illness? Read more ›
Adolescence is a time of enormous transition. Although adolescence may appear to be a turbulent time, it is also a period of great potential as young people engage more deeply with the world around them. Adolescents typically grow physically, try new activities, begin to think more critically, and develop more varied and complex relationships. Read more ›
For the parents of a teenager, adolescence can be a challenging time. But to a brain scientist, it’s a marvel.
“I want people to understand that adolescence is not a disease, that adolescence is an amazing time of development,” says Beatriz Luna, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh. Read more ›
Important conversations with teenagers are among the biggest challenges of parenting. They can feel like walking a tightrope. Lean too much – or too little – into commands and restrictions and you’re likely to tip over. Read more ›
