This document summarizes Abhi Dalal's presentation on South Asian American mental health. Some key points include: - Cultural factors like collectivism and family dynamics can create barriers for South Asian Americans seeking mental health care. - Mindfulness, gratitude, and compassion were presented as strategies for managing emotions and navigating cultural differences. - Experiences like dating risks, controlling relationships, and balancing family responsibilities with individual needs were discussed in the context of mental health. The presentation aimed to start a dialogue around making mental health care more culturally relevant for South Asian Americans.

1. South Asian
American
Mental Health
Abhi Dalal (ad4839@berkeley.edu)
Faculty Sponsor: Ann Cheney
(ann.cheney@medsch.ucr.edu)
Department of Social Medicine & Population Health
UC Riverside, SOM
Center for Healthy Communities
Presented at SAF x PSA Chai Talk: Mental Health on
1/24/19
Please cite the authors if utilizing this
presentation in the preparation of any future
work including, but not limited to, PowerPoint
presentations, IRBs, and articles.

2. Backstory
Why was I motivated to address
Desi mental health?
What do my experiences show?

3. Culture and
Mental Health
The role of culture
Medical anthropology
South Asians Americans: Some
Desi-ness, some American-ness.

4. Culture and
Mental Health
What is mental health?
Therapy? Talking to a doctor about
your mind?!? Putz.

5. Culture and
Mental Health
Racial and Ethnic Disparities
Solutions?

6. ACHEE:American
CollegeHealth
Emotional
Empowerment
forSouthAsian
Americans
 Global Mental Health
 My research questions
 What are SAA students’
understandings and experiences of
mental health?
 What are the contextual factors (e.g.,
culture, family, gender) that create
barriers to seeking mental health
care?
 What would culturally relevant care
look like for this population?

7. ACHEE
Contributions to literature
Emerging adulthood
US based South Asian mental
health
South Asian American
experiences in general
Verifying culturally relevant
mental health

8. ACHEE
Student mental health
Quantitative research
Qualitative research

9. Fig 1. Qualitative Research
Outcome (Kearney et al., 1995)

10. Emotional
Differences
As I noted in the beginning, more
traditional minded SAA, namely
your parents and elder community
members, will not understand
emotions in the same way we do.
 “I would always be like, ‘Oh, I'm so
nervous.’ And [Maa] said, ‘Oh,
nervousness is not a thing. Like
there's no such thing as being
nervous.’”
 “I feel I could never just go to my mom
and talk about how I'm truly feeling.
Because that's not what she's
interested in. She's interested in my
accomplishments and my academics.”

11. Dating Risks and
Violence
 Despite the fact that there is little discussion on
romance and relationships and dating is often
taboo, SAA still pursue romantic relationships
and often, unhealthily due to the lack of
knowledge/support and often, having to keep it
secretive.
 “you don't date. You don't have sex until you get
married. You stay with one person your entire life.
So me calling her and saying, ‘Hey mom, I'm
meeting a new guy tonight, how should I approach
him?’ That would be totally like, no. She'd be
yelling at me. So, I wouldn’t.”
 “recently, like I've cut off this bad habit because I
entered like a new healthy relationship. But the
person I was dating freshman year, like after a
while, once we broke up he got into a new
relationship but we still anytime like I had like a
problem or anything, like I would still go to him
kind of like as a safety mechanism”
 “I broke up with him for the final time, and my
family had gotten really, really close to him ... I did
have a restraining order against him.”

12. We, Me?
 SAA students experience tension
between their heritage culture’s
collectivism and American culture’s
individualism.
 “Because I do have an apartment here in
Riverside, but I go back and forth from
Fullerton to here, because my grandma is
sick right now. I have to take care of her
… and I've got to pick up my brothers
from practice, go walk the dog and come
back here, go to class and find time to
study.”
 “I know there's been times where like
we'll have … parties like at our house
and like I'll have the CBNS midterm the
next day and it's super frustrating
because it's like, it's like, mom, do you
want me to get straight A’s?”

13. Findings
So what?
Next Steps

14. Dissemination
of Findings
Community Engagement
Scholarly and Practitioner
Engagement

15. Practical Tips Why the cliffhanger?

16. Resolution:
Emotional
Differences
Desi parents have different
emotional understandings.
“The boundary to what we can
accept is the boundary to our
freedom.” ― Tara Brach (2014).

17. Resolution:
Dating Risks and
Violence
What is it?
Signs to watch for
 If s/he checks your cell phone or
email without your permission
 Monitors you throughout the day
and/or exhibits extreme controlling
behaviors
 Extreme jealousy
 Physically hurts you in any way …
(The National Domestic Violence Hotline)

18. Resolution:
Dating Risks and
Violence
Being proactive
Ending abusive relationship

19. Resolution: We,
Me?
South Asian culture’s Collectivism
vs America’s Individualism
Navigate family dynamics (or less
accultured) = less distress

20. Emotional
Regulation
How do we deal with negative
emotions?
Unhealthily?

21. Mindfulness
My background
Choosing, not reacting
What exactly is it?

22. More
Mindfulness
Throughout the day
Demo

23. Gratitude and
Compassion
Two qualities that can further
mindfulness
Staying in touch

24. Discussion
Questions
1. Do you have any general reflections that you’d
like to share with the group?
a. Reflecting on my research, do you think that there’s
something that I haven’t touched upon?
2. What brought you to this Chai talk today?
3. What would you like to be different when you
walk out of here today?
4. College is a transformative but also challenging
time. Would anybody like to share any
experiences? Or what has helped you to grow or
survive through this transitory period?
5. Does anybody want to share powerful quotes or
books or the likes?
6. Any other things people would want to share?

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