Thread by @nicalexiac

My final piece for VICE—and my first in print. It's about the ways US born children of immigrants experience mental illness, and how hard it is to find a therapist when a) most of them are white and b) your home culture might not see mental illness as real
vice.com/en_us/article/…

Sharing it a few days late because I'm so so nervous—it's a subject I'm not sure I could ever really do justice to, and one so close to my heart. I did so much research to prepare for this one, and barely even the tip of the iceberg was able to make it in. There's just so much.

Pulling out some of the salient points here:
- Non-white immigrants and their children experience racism differently: Parents might be able to cope better because a) they anticipated/assumed it would happen b) they may have faced worse in their country of origin (cont) 1/

c) immigrants may identify with a non-US place as home, conceptually—not as a place they could realistically return to, but when someone screams "go home" (which is hateful, let me be very clear) immigrants have a place to attach meaning to. Their US born kids only have the US 2/

- All older generations have a tendency to minimize the pain of those below them—but kids of immigrants have to navigate both age gap + culture gap
- These gaps make it harder to communicate/empathize, and may exacerbate existing stress from parents who have high expectations 3/

- Therapy is inaccessible for a billion reasons that go so far beyond what we talk about. The hardest part of this story was explaining to people without immigrant backgrounds that it's NOT just about lack of insurance or being undocumented—though that obviously plays a role 4/

A non-exhaustive list of why US born children of immigrants have a harder time accessing therapy/mental healthcare resources:
- Their parents don't know these resources exist
- The idea of therapy—or validating the idea of mental illness—is incompatible with someone's culture 5/

- Lots of non-US cultures prioritize "saving face" (as an AsAm person, I feel this). It means what you do impacts the image of the whole family + your identity is how others perceive you. Now imagine seeking therapy (given the stigma) when it reflects/impacts your whole family 6/

- Therapy is extremely difficult to finance. It's one of the least insured medical specialties (hence why the problem extends past the matter of insurance). Even with a sliding scale, coverage can be so expensive—in major cities it hovers around $100 at the low end 7/

- It's also so hard to find a good therapist bc—like so many industries—they're mostly white. Imagine paying $100 out of pocket, guilty as hell for "wasting" that money. And you spend your entire first appntmt trying to explain...your entire culture? Your framework for living? 8/

- So your therapist is like "sounds like your parents may have had some abusive behaviors, you need distance." But NO that's just how it *is*—they did all of this FOR me, don't you get it??

Ok that's not statistical but damn is it true. Also you just wasted $100! Fun!! 9/

- All of this is on top of the fact that healthcare is harder to access/has worse outcomes for marginalized people. So it's also an optics problem.

When I did interviews for this piece, nearly every respondent said therapy isn't really for them. It's for affluent white folks 10/

- It comes as no surprise that POCs use mental healthcare resources at far lower rates than white folks.

I wish I could have included more quotes from Yukiko Shiraishi, a therapist who often helps POC kids of immigrants. She wants you to know "therapy is for everyone" 11/

- The therapy intake process—even over the phone—can be extremely frustrating and alienating due to dialect and prejudice. This is also true for fluent English speakers (think AAVE). Here's an excellent piece about seeking a therapist while Black
theatlantic.com/health/archive…
12/

I want to close this by thanking every single person who told me their stories, opened up about matters that are so private and difficult to discuss. I'm so proud of us—our resilience, our creativity, our sheer grit.

I hope you feel less alone, like you can ask for help 13/

And the most important thank you—the endless and impossible thanks to our parents who brought us here through whatever means, against whatever impossible odds, who loved us in the ways they knew how even when we weren't the easiest to love. This is for you. We love you.
end/

I don't know who needs to hear this but do NOT send this to the family group chat unless you're ready for the consequences lmao