• Question: What's your opinion on the way mental health is perceived in Asian culture?

    Asked by anon-216130 to Robert, Olly, Nicola, Jasmin, Dennis, Caroline on 12 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Dennis Relojo-Howell

      Dennis Relojo-Howell answered on 12 Jun 2019: last edited 12 Jun 2019 5:00 pm

      I’m from Southeast Asia and I lived in four Asian countries (Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore) before I moved here in the UK. One thing I can say, mental health is more openly talk about here in the UK compared with the Asian countries I lived. I also lived in Germany and it’s pretty much the same as here in the UK in relation to mental health – people are more open about it.

      There are also more cases of suicide here in the UK. Where I’m from (Philippines) suicide is very rare – we rank 159 in suicide rates (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate). Religion has something to do about it. As a Catholic country, suicide is considered a grave sin.

    • Photo: Robert Dempsey

      Robert Dempsey answered on 12 Jun 2019:

      I do know that there are some poorer mental health outcomes for people from particular Asian cultures, including some specific issues faced by people from South Asian backgrounds who live in the UK (across physical and mental health related issues). I can’t really comment on how mental health is perceived in Asian cultures as I’m not from that culture and haven’t lived in Asia.

    • Photo: Nicola Johnstone

      Nicola Johnstone answered on 13 Jun 2019:

      This is an interesting question, but I have never studied this area.

    • Photo: Oliver Clabburn

      Oliver Clabburn answered on 13 Jun 2019:

      Wow, great question! I’m afraid that I have no idea about this! Definitely something I will investigate further though, thanks bubblesx!

    • Photo: Jasmin Moon

      Jasmin Moon answered on 13 Jun 2019:

      From my understanding Asian cultures tend to be ‘collectivist’ (they view group goals as being more important than individual needs or desires) whereas in the West we are more individualistic (we put more importance on ourselves than others).
      I don’t really have an opinion on this, but it could help explain why mental health isn’t always talked about in Asian cultures because they can neglect their own needs and feel it is not right to talk about themselves, which leads to them bottling up their feelings.
      This is of course a generalisation but does go some way to explaining the differences in the way that mental health is perceived in different cultures.

    • Photo: Caroline Brett

      Caroline Brett answered on 13 Jun 2019:

      Great question, but not an area I have studied – see Dennis’s answer!

Comments