Tsunami: Recommitting to Address AAPI Mental Health in a Post-COVID Era

Abstract

For too many in the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, this past year has been one of particular hardships: a global pandemic that caused suffering at home and abroad, political and social unrest, economic hardship, and an ongoing series of violent attacks on Asian Americans.

Some health experts warn that this COVID pandemic will be followed by widespread mental health issues caused by the stressors that the pandemic has caused—social isolation, the economic anxiety, and political and social unrest that have engulfed our collective psyche. But again, for many communities of color, these stressors only brought to light disparities in our healthcare system, particularly our mental health system.

As policymakers and stakeholders envision a new system, particularly for mental health, in a post-pandemic world, we should add our voices for a more equitable system by calling out the circumstances facing the Asian American community. This is a pivotal time to not only address the coming “second pandemic” of mental health issues brought about by the COVID pandemic but also to rebuild the healthcare system and address systemic changes that have long needed attention.

Like many other communities of color, AAPI communities are no strangers to understanding racism as a public health issue, and the pandemic has exacerbated such underlying tensions, not necessarily generated new ones. Like other communities of color, the history of AAPIs in the United States is complicated, running the gamut as explored below between outright exclusion to elevation as a model minority and a wedge for identity politics. For instance, economic anxieties about China as well as scapegoating of Asian American-owned businesses parallel the nativism that led to events ranging from the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act to the Vincent Chin murder.

In building that more equitable system, this paper will discuss three interconnected—but not necessarily exhaustive— issues to facilitate a more equitable mental health system post-pandemic: Asian cultural attitudes towards mental health, AAPIs’ station as a community of color, and understanding the long-term impact of the COVID pandemic on the community.

The paper will then turn to recommendations to not only addressing the mental health needs of the AAPI community in the wake of COVID and the uptick in violence but also bringing greater equity into mental health services for all communities of color. For example, recently Congress passed the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act, an important part of responding. But some critics argue that the law does not address the underlying causes of anti-Asian sentiment nor the needs of the community.

Note:
Funding Information: None.

Conflict of Interests: At the time of writing this article, Mr. Kim served as the board chair of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (“APIAHF”) and cited to numerous reports issued by APIAHF. However, the views expressed throughout the article were solely his own.

Keywords: mental health, health equity, Asian American, disparities, pandemic, COVID, mental healthcare

JEL Classification: K32, I14