Asian Americans and Mental Health

Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in the United States (21 million according to U.S. Census, 2016). Despite this, Asian America’s diverse experiences remain invisible as a result of the “model minority” myth, the perception that they are stress and problem-free. This project employs the concept of intersectionality with literary and artistic interpretations of the Asian American experience to the field of psychology to ask: How can the humanities and social sciences make visible Asian America’s unique and diverse risks and resilience in mental health? This transdisciplinary study of Asian American women and men’s mental health/illness thereby documents the material effects of racism and sexism on Asian American psyches and their coping strategies.