While grading the CS211 prelim, we TA’s saw advertisements for a seminar on Asian Mental Health which claimed 1/2 of suicides at Cornell University were committed by Asian males. The numbers seemed too high, the race issue to laughably strong, so we joked about it, and rewrote the headers to read “half of all singles at Cornell are Asian males.” But when the next day’s issue of The Cornell Daily Sun came out, we weren’t laughing as much anymore.

Wai Kwong Wong, Ph.D., held a lecture addressing health concerns in the Asian community last Thursday. According to Wong, who works for CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services), 50 percent of suicides at Cornell come from a mere 17% of the population. Asian students are more likely to experience stress, relationship trouble, and abuse, and less likely to do anything about it, he said. The genius stereotype, generation gaps in the family, and what Wong termed “conceptual invisibility” play a huge role in Asian mental health on campus.

The solution he offers? Seek help when you need it.

If you’re not the only one unsatisfied with this idea, brainstorm in the comments. To me, “seeking help when you need it” is a symptomatic treatment that soothes the pain caused by racism and culture shock without actually getting to the heart of the problem. For some reason, Asian students are pressured differently than other Cornell students. A better solution, I think, would be to probe the reasons why, and try and alleviate some of the external pressures that our Asian students face.

Cross posted to the Cornell Blog

One Response to “Asian Mental Health”

1. Nurit Hailey says:

   9/19/2007 at 11:12 am

   you had me suicidal, suicida. Nurit Hailey.

   Reply