The impact on mental health of young Asian Americans due to acts of discrimination and hate crimes during COVID-19

Abstract

AbstractThis article is an examination of the acts of discriminiation and hate crimes against the Asian American community and how their mental health has been impacted. The historical examination of acts against the Asian American community stem from acts against the Asian American community during both the yellow peril and the Roosevelt Era. Alongside current day institutionalized policies that are propagated by the media, the resurrection of historical tropes further act to seclude Asian Americans from mainstream society. These acts of seclusion further drive mental health inequality in Asian American society that include, but are not limited to: anxiety, depression, and psychological stress. These mental health inequalities are further subdivided into different ethnic groups that worsen as data is collected from older generations. More recently, COVID-19 has brought forth an upsurge in hate crimes that has only worsened the ability of Asian American youth to fully develop a racial identity; the upsurge in hate crimes is also coupled with invalidation of interethnic differences and invalidation of their discriminatory experiences. The synthesis of current day research will aid in the understanding of the mental health inequality in the Asian American community and aid in further studies that can address these plights.Purpose StatementThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how acts of discrimination and hate crimes against the Asian community have impacted the mental health of young Asian Americans. This review seeks to explore the many effects of race-based discrimiation specifically for Asian Americans during and after the COVID-19 (coronavirus pandemic) such as: general feelings of inclusivity, physiological responses as a result of increasing racist encounters, and incidences of mental health experiences. Overall, the paper highlights how these characteristics manifest within the Asian American population and what measures and interventions can be done to protect Asian American from the negative consequences of hate.