I am proud to be a Vancouver-based Asian counsellor providing culturally adapted counselling.
From my practice, I noticed:
Asian are hardworking, driven, goal and family-oriented, have high expectations for themselves, are likely to be harsh towards themselves, and have anxiety (over body shape, compared with others).
The Asian population usually has limited help-seeking behaviours and barriers related to culturally incongruent therapists (for example, Eurocentric frameworks, limited appreciation of cultural, religious context, monolithic racial group of therapists, limited capacity to reflect racially, ethnic, spiritual and linguistic diversity to match the community) and stigma about mental health.
They do not talk much about emotional issues since they were little. They dislike reaching out for help with mental health problems because mental illness usually indicates a weakness in one’s character. Meanwhile, withstanding hardship and suffering were viewed as virtues.
Lee et al. (2021) stated that Asian Americans tend to consider mental health problems as a condition that can be overcome by strong will or effort instead of a disorder that requires professional care.
Unless the situation gets worse, they do not ask for help. It might be developed to a severe level. It will be great if they can attend to more self-care and self-compassion and value their mental health like physical health.
Lee, M., Bhimla, A., Lu, W., & Ma, G. X. (2021). Correlates of mental health treatment receipt among Asian Americans with perceived mental health problems. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 48(2), 199–212. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-020-09704- 6