Essays written by students on the topic of mental health has uncovered an unusual amount of stress being felt by Asian American teens. While non-Asian students wrote about body image and bipolar disorder, essays from Asian American students focused on pressure felt from their parents, their peers and even themselves, reports the Pleasanton Weekly.
Edward Wang wrote “”I hear a little voice in my head, and as much as I try to stifle it and smother it, it continues to whisper to me. It tells me that I can’t succeed, that I can’t triumph, that I can never live up to my hopes and dreams.”
Sai Fu said “The stress had built up to the point where I detested school, and hated doing things in general.”
Calvin Chan simply wrote “Many of my friends physically and mentally succumb to the inability to satisfy the expectations of their parents,”
The contest was sponsored by the Culture to Culture Foundation.
Several mental health experts say the essays are indicative of a major problem in the Asian American community. You can read about that in the Pleasanton Weekly.
