Roots & Resilience – Mental Health through Cultural Lens

@avant-garde thanks for sharing! i'm sorry you've had to feel like hiding where you're from was the safest bet, i can relate to that too.

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@avant-garde wrote:

Someone once said to me that if someone can't or won't accept you, they're not worth your time or your friendship.

Where I grew up is part of my story, part of me, that's not going to change. Hiding it doesn't help me find my people, because they're only accepting of what I show them, so I need to show them all of me, that's where I find true and honest friendship and community.

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i really love this 💙

@chibam i do see where you're coming from, but ultimately i think it misses the point of this thread (which is about sharing advice/stories/what helped people overcome cultural stigmas or feel more seen).

what you mentioned, it can be both a cultural rift as well as an individual one - depends on the person and circumstance. think of it this way - you're at the start line of race, there's some who have absolutely no family/financial support who just moved here, some who may have lived in third world countries, may have different religions, may have been forced out of their homes, may have experienced war, etc. for each of these things, imagine there's extra hurdles added between them and the finish line... the cultural side of things are a couple of those hurdles that sometimes don't get talked about, especially not in a recovery-focused way, which is what this space is for. there's definitely many other areas other than culture too that act as hurdles (and you or anyone else is welcome to start their own thread for that too).

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@chibam wrote:

Say the hispanic patient I mention before belonged to the only hispanic family in a mostly-white town. How are they meant to discern what parts of their upbringing and personality are rooted in traditional hispanic culture, and which parts stem from the eccentricities of their own family group?

I get the impression that a lot of people searching for their true home cling to the idea that it will be as simple as just surrounding themselves with the culture they were born from - only to discover when they do so they they can no better relate to the culture of their heritage then they can to the white Australian culture they've grown up in.

I went to school with a couple of asians adopted into white families, who never really connected with said families. Nor did they seem to connect well with the student body or teachers, although the school had plenty of other asians who had plenty of white friends, and were well-liked by the teachers. They seemed to cling to the hope that the connection they yearned for would be found with their ethnic communities. But my understanding is when they tried to venture in to these communities, they found them even less relatable then they found their mostly-white Australian community.

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i guess you've pretty much touched on exactly why discussing that rift is important! it's that pull between the roots/traditions/ethnic background and then the western world/views, and modern world and the diverse network of people we're surrounded by now. how did everyone cope? were there ways that made this easier when it came to reaching out for mental health support? etc. everyone's different depending on their experience - and talking about it, sharing what's worked for different people, is a way of helping each other. there's often no clear answer which makes it isolating. personally i used to struggle with not feeling 'indian' enough around my family, but then not 'Australian' enough around my classmates/society. but in recent years i've started to find my balance, and a big part of that was thanks to tv shows and movie representations. being able to see brown women on Hollywood screens being portrayed as lead characters and discussing mental health meant a lot to me and my brown friends too.

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@chibam wrote:

So, maybe I'm unfairly projecting here, but my situation just gets me wondering: how many of these supposed cultural rifts between "mentally ill" non-white Australians and the dominant white culture aren't really cultural rifts between the two cultures at all? How many of these situations are less a case of the person being incompatable with white Australian culture, and more a case of being incompatable with the world as a whole, including the culture of their heritage?

Do we overemphasize the wisdom of looking for answers in a person's heritage? Should we be making more of an effort to percieve people as self-formed individuals, rather then products that have been defined by whatever culture they've been biologically born from?

I can't speak for others, but my own experiance has lead me to believe that one should not be too quick to believe that there is a connection between a person and whatever culture they've been born from. Especially when we're talking about individuals who are dubbed "mentally ill". They may well be just as abnormal to the people of their own heritage as they are to our western society.

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I think these are some pretty interesting questions - and personally the way i view suicide/death is largely based on my religious beliefs (in my religion, ending one's life does not 'end' their problems as their soul will be reincarnated into a new body and they'll have to continue facing the same/harder problems until they learn their lesson/overcome the obstacle). But accepting my religious background and actually being willing to learn it was an obstacle on its own - christianity is the dominant belief in this country, and as a hindu who went to catholic schools - that was another lil hurdle that made things confusing but also made me more accepting of other people's views. the lesson that i've been learning is more that - it's not an 'us and them' but rather finding who you at the core. and following that - traditions can be important but also understanding the 'why' and not following it blindly was something that helped me find myself and feel less isolated.

okay i might have rambled off topic now - it's sort of hard not to when its such a HUGE conversation. but yeah feel free to share any words of empowerment/any representations you've seen that might be helpful for people struggling with their cultural identity and mental health!!

@rav3n @avant-garde @Shaz51 @chibam @Till23

My mother didn’t speak much English and I guess I learned to be sensitive to communication with and without language.

I was also from the wrong part of town and it was repeatedly brought up, even by the father of my children.

I mingled with more indigenous and migrants than Anglos, tho I was happy to travel to London when I was young and appreciated English literature and British sitcoms.

I don’t eat typical Aussie foods, though I have been born here. Eventually I have caught up on eating ham sandwiches, hamburger and meat pies, Darrell and Sara Lea/Lee. I cooked more Italian cos I worked in Lygon st while I was young, and Asian cos I travelled there young.

Yes there so many differences and similarities among people and cultures. It can be extra work to understand people who are a bit different, but I have found that was a problem all over. What matters is openness to learning and give and take. We all have hearts that need to beat and can break.

I can often get on better with migrants or people of mixed descent, better than dyed in the wool Aussies, or. People gung ho about their own culture without regard to the huge diversity who do live here. Attitude can make a big impact, and individuals can vary greatly within the “same” group. Eg I joke… put a dozen Irish in a room and see if they all agree… it’s doubtful…but probably true of most ethnicities.

Because I am such a mix and had a weird start I don’t know what is normal. I also wonder if class stigma and discrimination has been overlooked.

Sadly, the traumas in my family may have been exacerbated by cultural misunderstanding, with trauma not processed or understood or respected. We all tried and were open and inclusive but the load on us was overwhelming and people broke and the family fractured. Mental illness can be caused by trauma and cause it.

Diversity can be great if it there are adequate resources whether it be time, people or material.

I don’t really like generalisations about the west. West of where? Are the west dominant or the underdog? Eg I have lived in western suburbs of 2 major cities and they get a bad rap. I also object to people assuming I lived like Americans on tv when I have never been there and don’t want to go. I am learning more about my Aussie side and have a dedicated book case now. I have done a lot of cultural exploration and glad to champion Australian artists Eg playing Peter Sculthorpe on the organ. In the arts it was thought Australia had a cultural cringe, but I am learning to dig deep and find gold.

Kulcha is complicated man.

Awesome thread @rav3n !

• What’s helped you deal with cultural stigmas when reaching out for support and/or talking about mental health?

I don't think I had a choice. Due to the severity of my condition, support just happened and it sorta never stopped from then. I'm 3rd generation Australian born so I don't know anything else.

• Share a quote/piece of advice/story that’s been impactful in your recovery journey.

"You are the author of your own story. If you don't like it, change it."

• What are some books/movies/tv shows/celebrity stories/any other type of CALD representation that’s helped you feel seen or inspired?

I'm not sure if you'd call this a CALD representation, but I was inspired by Bruce Pascoe's book, Dark Emu. I was in awe after reading it, despite what the controversy around it is.

thanks so much for sharing @Shaz51 sucks to hear that the people at the airport tried to 'erase' your heritage simply because you live in Aus... i've had a similar experience where my own relatives in India suggested that I'm 'Aussie' now and don't have any 'Indian' in me. at the end of the day, we know ourselves better than others do 💙

@Appleblossom ooo i can definitely relate to what you said about learning to be "sensitive to communication without language".

also really love what you said here too:

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@Appleblossom wrote:

Yes there so many differences and similarities among people and cultures. It can be extra work to understand people who are a bit different, but I have found that was a problem all over. What matters is openness to learning and give and take. We all have hearts that need to beat and can break.

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never thought of the 'western views as the underdog', had me really thinking! thank you so much for sharing

also thought i'd share my responses too:

• What’s helped you deal with cultural stigmas when reaching out for support and/or talking about mental health?

talking to others who were on similar boats. at the time i didn't know anyone in real life i could reach out to, but i stumbled across an instagram page called 'South Asian Therapists' and related to so much of their posts - it was the first time i didn't feel alone in my experience. it was validating to know that people who looked like me were also connecting with mental health services. also, talking to clinicians/psych's who understood or was willing to take time to understand my culture made it easier to talk about my childhood without feeling 'shame' or 'discomfort'.

• Share a quote/piece of advice/story that’s been impactful in your recovery journey.

"the only people you should try and impress are 8-year old you and 80-year old you."

in the past i've been guilty of changing myself to 'fit in' better around certain people, and compare myself and wish i was someone else. but now i realise that this life is mine, and i need to do my best to make myself proud, not worry about what others expect.

• What are some books/movies/tv shows/celebrity stories/any other type of CALD representation that’s helped you feel seen or inspired?

- Dil Dhadakne Do, 3 idiots, Taare zameen par and Dear Zindagi - they're bollywood films that touch on family issues, trauma and mental health. often Bollywood films don't talk about these topics due to stigmas around it, but these few films were ones that felt realistic to me.

- Mo (Palestinian refugee in the US) is a tv show that touches on this too

@rav3n developmental and life cycle challenges can be similar and different… as a teacher dealing with parent child stuff… I just believe it is important not to be dogmatic. Honest intersectionality needs to broaden its scope… Eg asking a range of cultural questions and being aware of historical differences. Eg … age first started work….ages that close people may have died…

… east and west…, my paternal and maternal lineages came from east and west of the Greenwich meridian … so longitude maybe another reason I am sensitive to it…idk…maybe I am too scientific or too literal…idk

i mostly identify with being inner city… but not rich real estate… if you know what I mean… I lived there pre-gentrification

today a migrant asked me if salmon and vegetables were traditional Aussie food … I had to say no. Maybe a few had it in the past. Too expensive. Really not many. Tuna or sardines were more common. I only heard of people eating salmon in last 20 years… she had the decency to pose it as a polite question rather than make a generalisation.

we just need to be careful… as there are so many controversies… maybe more these days as we are all trying to accommodate people from all over the globe… all at once….

anyway I love the thread idea

thanks

hope more join in

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@Appleblossom wrote:

@rav3n developmental and life cycle challenges can be similar and different… as a teacher dealing with parent child stuff… I just believe it is important not to be dogmatic. Honest intersectionality needs to broaden its scope… Eg asking a range of cultural questions and being aware of historical differences. Eg … age first started work….ages that close people may have died…

definitely agree with you here! @Appleblossom i think asking those questions and being curious in understanding people rather than jumping to conclusions or making assumptions is super important. i actually watched a cultural training video for one of my other jobs recently and they talked about how in different cultures 'being on time' can be considered disrespectful or against the social norm in their culture/country. so for some who have migrated to Australia, being 'late' for work or 'late' to attend a party was normal/respectful from their perspective, but other people who don't take a chance to communicate/understand 'why' tend to assume they were lazy/rude/disrespectful - when in reality it was just a misunderstanding and cultural difference.

thank you and really appreciate your inputs 💙

Hi @rav3n I know I'm way late on this, but I do wanna mention some things here regarding this topic as a daughter with first gen immigrants myself too!

What’s helped you deal with cultural stigmas when reaching out for support and/or talking about mental health?

Well ever since I've first had a counsellor in high school since I was 13, I've never thought about anything in relation to the cultural stigmas of my background surrounding seeking support, so I've never had any issues with seeking support. Although I've found out years later that my dad was 'worried' about me seeking support when I've mentioned to both my parents out loud at one point, then my dad quietly asked my mum why I'm seeing a counsellor and that I didn't need to see one... *eyeroll* but anyways, ever since i was in year 11 though (i was 17) that was when my mum started to accept the fact that i need to seek counselling for my mental health when I refuse to attend school one day and convinced her to give me a day off. Since then, she's been supportive of me for that, even though she isn't the greatest parent either in my opinion since her and I have our fair share of different cultural values and beliefs.

Share a quote/piece of advice/story that’s been impactful in your recovery journey.

Seeking for help does not make you look 'weak', no matter what culture you're raised in. It's a sign that you're strong enough to wanting to improve and better your life emotionally and mentally.

Another one I wanna share is that you don't need to always follow in everything that your parent (or any other loved one) tells you to do, because what you choose to do and that you KNOW feels right for you, is your choice. And its best that you follow your own gut instead of always following on what someone else tells you otherwise that would or may make you to hold back onto it otherwise.

what are some books/movies/tv shows/celebrity stories/any other type of CALD representation that's helped you feel seen or inspired?

It's hard to say because I haven't really been looking into those haha. But I would say the one and only book that really made me not feel alone especially regarding the asian traditional cultural values and beliefs that my parents still hold, would be Growing Up Asian in Australia. When I was in year 11, we had to read that novel as part of the English subject, and I love that novel so much!