Investigating the stigma behind mental health in the South Asian Community
Interview One
Question 1. Hi my names Zaid I am 21 years old studying bio medical sciences and I am Indian. I moved to the UK in 2008.
Question 2. Mental health is the psychological and emotional wellbeing of a person. It’s how people feel and process emotions.
Question 3. I feel like mental health is a taboo subject, its mostly undiscussed in the community and in families and its not as visible as other ailments. Its also in South Asian communities there’s a big focus on family and shame and the way people are perceived by other people in the community. Because mental health is not talked about so it is considered something negative when it is mentioned.
Sub Question. I would say it is different due to the subject being taboo and untouchable because people are not educated about it they’re kind of afraid of it almost because in other communities it is more openly talked about and because of that people understand the ins and outs and how mental health affects people. And that what makes it different as once the topic is talked about the discussions could be more transparent and progressive but erm the element of being scared of the topic is what makes it different in the south Asian community.
Question 4. So I am an atheist for me personally religion wouldn’t be a factor however I feel like generally religions are repressive when it comes to most taboo subjects which is why they’re kind of considered a taboo subject as culture and religion are integrated. So most of the difficult taboo like subjects come from religion. For me personally urm my family aren’t devout Christians so for us mental health is discussed quite well and openly but I feel like their experience was different to mine as their parents were probably in much stricter and restricted conditions when it comes to subjects like mental health. So it’s good that I feel like progress has been made. However I feel like in general in the west most religious people are becoming more educated about mental health. And even with whichever religion they may follow they are increasingly understanding why conversations about mental health are important.
Question 5. Limited. Errrr I feel like because mental health is something that people are scared of they don’t really know much about it I feel like people hate what they cant understand. Mental health is very complex and difficult to understand people would rather choose to ignore it then be more open about it. I feel like it differs between south Asian communities living in the west compared to communities that live back home because other communities encourage mental health discussions in the west its encouraged the south Asian communities to also have discourse about mental health as compared to back home where regimes are a lot more oppressive and funding for health care is a lot lower.
Question 6. I’d firstly go to my closest friends, as I feel like they would be more understanding of any mental health issues and situations that I may have.
Question 7. I would also be able to speak to my parents about them because my parents are quite open and understanding when it comes to mental health however I would often choose not to so they don’t worry about me and my conditions. I feel like I wouldn’t go to a professional therapist because erm I feel like that would be for more serious problems which I don’t have or when I do have problems I tend to think if I exaggerate my problems it will increase the problem size in my head so I feel like by seeking professional help it would make the issue more serious than it is.
Question 8. I identify as a male.
Question 9. Yes being a heterosexual male there is a lot more pressure on you to be emotionally and mentally strong and mental health issues and being open about them as a guy is quite difficult because youre almost considered inferior or weaker. Luckily my male friends are quite educated about it and we feel comfortable in sharing things such as mental health issues. The way guys are treated when it comes to being emotional and open about feelings is almost internalised from the way you are raised you hear things like “boys don’t cry” and “boys can’t be girls” and it sets you up to be repressive about your emotions unless you’re taught otherwise.
Question 10. Yes, older generations are definitely a lot more restricted and conservative they were brought up that way and it is very difficult to learn otherwise unless you actively try to unteach yourself bigotry and old fashioned uneducated thinking. The newer generations of the south Asian communities are a lot more vocal and more active in being contemporary and breaking boundaries and things that are considered taboo, so they would definitely be a lot more different than other generations would be. Mental health has also progressed quite fast quite recently, so historically I don’t think they had any scientific proof that it was a real thing, which is why there is so much miseducation about it.