The Mental Health Crisis Behind the Model Minority Myth
The myth of Asian excellence isn't harmless—it's a racial script written to uphold white supremacy while eroding solidarity and so much more.
Photo: Jessica Ticozzelli
Is there such a thing as being too well off to be unwell?
Asian Americans are the least likely to seek mental health support, which has a whole to do with the model minority myth: the idea that Asian immigrants are all smart and successful and, therefore, are inherently able to integrate into their new country. Thereby, it functions as “proof” that racism, xenophobia and discrimination don’t exist. After all, the myth says, if these immigrants can thrive in America, why can’t everyone? For decades, it’s been the basis of a lot of Asian stereotypes: we’re good at school, we’re all rich and we’re successful at anything we try.
The model minority myth paints all Asians as a monolith. In reality, Burmese and Hmong Americans have higher poverty rates than Filipino and Indian Americans, according to the Pew Research Center. And, AAPI Data reports that Asian Americans have among the highest language access needs of any racial group, while many Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander groups have homeownership rates below the U.S. average. In addition, Asian Americans are the least likely group to be promoted into management roles.
Still, the model minority myth prevails. And as it does, it pits us against other racialized people, negatively impacts our mental health and actively stops Asians from seeking mental-health care and other supports.
Here’s why:
Us vs. every other racial group
Crucially, the model minority myth is often used to pit minorities against one another—a tool of white supremacy that undermines solidarity.
“It’s used to convince people that there’s no discrimination,” says Cary Wu, a professor of sociology at York University in Toronto. “It’s used to deny institutional discrimination and systemic racism.”
So, those who are seen as being “below” Asians, like Black and brown people, may resent Asians (especially fair-skinned East Asians who also benefit from their lighter skin) who they might believe align with whiteness. Meanwhile, Asians may resent other racialized people who aren’t able to succeed and believe they aren’t “trying hard enough.” Or, that other racialized immigrants give Asian immigrants a “bad name” because they aren’t succeeding. The party that comes out clean is white folks, who don’t end up having to answer to racism and all its insidiousness when this dynamic is at play.
“The model minority myth leads to a blame game,” says Ken Fung, a psychiatrist at Toronto Western Hospital and the co-founder of the Asian Initiative in Mental Health Program. “It allows the perpetuation of the white supremacy in the grand scheme of things: white is seen on top, then model minorities in the middle, with Black people at the bottom. It isn’t helpful and denies systems and changes on the individual level.”
For example: in the corporate world, there’s a trend of promoting a tiny percentage of model minority workers as proof of representation—but it doesn’t lead to real material change for most other racialized employees. Often, this means Asian workers are promoted to middle management positions because of their model minority status, while other racialized workers (namely Black employees) aren’t given the same treatment.
“The model minority myth leads to a blame game. It isn’t helpful and denies system and changes on the individual level.”
Impact on mental health
There is already a lot of stigma towards mental health in Asian communities, Fung says. “Because Asia has a collectivist culture, when people feel shame, they don’t feel shame in a singular way—they feel shame about how their families view them, how others will view their family.”
East Asians, especially Chinese folks, underutilize mental health resources the most, explains Fung: “And there aren’t enough resources available.” Resources like mental health support and funding, culturally sensitive programming, therapists with a knowledge of Asian culture and more are in short supply.
As a result, Asians struggling with their mental health have several layers of stigma to work through: cultural norms, the stigma surrounding mental health and their own internalized shame that they shouldn’t even be struggling. Needless to say, it’s complicated.
“Chinese people who are admitted to hospital are actually sicker," explains Fung. “They tend to seek help less, so by the time they make it to the hospital, they’ve deteriorated to the worst possible state.”
Less access to care
As the model minority myth denies the existence of discrimination, especially anti-Asian discrimination, it erases the struggles of Asian immigrants and puts pressure on Asians to live up to the imagined expectations of model minorities. Immigrants who arrive in North America are aware of the concept, explains Wu, so they’re expected to work even harder than others.
But, “no matter how hard they work, sometimes they just won’t be able to be successful,” says Wu. “So the combination of high expectations and working so hard leads to mental health challenges.”
It also means that those who don’t succeed think that the problem is solely on them—they aren’t successful because they’re not smart, good or ambitious enough. There’s no consideration for things like anti-Asian discrimination or different abilities, and perhaps the need for accommodations.
“By using such broad brushstrokes, the needs of so many Asians who have different needs are swept under the carpet,” says Fung.
Rather than continue to strive towards model minority status and sweeping difficulties under the rug, Asian Canadians will be more resilient and stronger if they’re able to open up about mental health struggles and seek out culturally relevant resources.