Mental health impact of discrimination toward Asian Americans during the COVID pandemic

1. Correspondence

In response to “Perceived discrimination and mental health among the Chinese diaspora during COVID-19,” which published survey results from April 22-May 9, 2020, showing 82.6 % of participants reporting encountering discrimination in everyday life and findings suggesting 29.8 % and 25.5 % as likely having anxiety and depressive disorders (Chen et al., 2021), this correspondence aims to provide an update on the mental health impact of discrimination toward Asian Americans since onset of the COVID pandemic in March 2020.

At the time of writing this, globally, COVID had infected 182 million with 3.9 million deaths to date (WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard, 2021). Asian hate crimes increased by 145 %, while overall hate crimes decreased by 6 % in America in 2020 (FACT SHEET: Anti-Asian Prejudice March, 2021). Although hate crimes against the Asian community were most widely reported in America, xenophobic behavior has been demonstrated across the world (Xu et al., 2021). This is not the first time in history that hate crimes have become more prevalent following a large, stressful event such as a global pandemic (Gover et al., 2020). In this correspondence, my purpose is to provide a psychological framework for why hate crimes toward Asian Americans occurred, characterize the mental health impact on the Asian American community, and offer potential solutions to address present and future issues related to hate crimes.

Amidst a global pandemic catastrophic both in terms of lives lost and economic impact, uncertainty loomed. In these challenging times, it is imperative that accurate information be disseminated to enable collective problem-solving and avoid blaming and shaming (Tandon, 2021a). It is critical that we avoid overly dramatized presentation of issues related to COVID and mental health (Tandon, 2021b). We hypothesize that a segment of American news outlets sensationalized stories about the root cause of COVID-19 by narrowly presenting issues with provocative verbiage. In turn, these narratives influenced reader psychology by increasing arousal and escalating anxiety. We propose heightened levels of anxiety became overwhelming for some, overriding their coping ability and capacity for rational and empathetic thought. The intensity and chronicity of the anxiety awakened subconscious and unconscious processes of in-grouping and out-grouping behavior. When humans perceive psychological threat taking action can temporarily relieve internal tension. During the pandemic, violence and discrimination emerged as groups of non-Asian Americans sought to blame someone or something for their fear and anger about illness, economic insecurity, and quarantine orders (Tessler et al., 2020). In a survey of American college students, Asian students reported more discrimination than other ethnicities (Trammell et al., 2021). In a survey of 218 Bhutanese and Burmese refugees living in 23 states across America, about 1/3 reported at least one type of discrimination, and more than 2/3 experienced at least one type of pandemic-related stress (Zhang et al., 2021).

Research studies in the past have established a correlation between racialized victimization and poor mental health outcomes. One assessment was measuring utilization of a Mental Health America anxiety screening tool and finding a 22 % total increase with a 39 % increase in Asian American respondents (Gover et al., 2020). Hate crimes have been shown to increase the number of intrusive thoughts following victimization (Gover et al., 2020) and current perceptions of public safety have caused Chinese and other East Asians to live in fear when conducting errands (Tessler et al., 2020). The sobering truth is that enduring effects will likely be felt by Asian American victims and communities for years to come, exacerbated by decades of generational trauma (Gover et al., 2020).

So what can be done to address the mental health impact of hate crimes now and prevent hate crime escalation in the future? We divide potential solutions into individual and systemic level interventions. From a 1-on-1 standpoint, programs that increase social support and teach coping skills can help buffer the immediate psychological impact of discrimination (Lee and Waters, 2021). At the system level, changes should occur in three areas: education, media, and public health. In terms of education, we should seek to increase the amount of team-based work that exposes us to diversity and allow us to empathize with people from different cultures and backgrounds. This would help us approach racial and cultural differences with understanding, empathy, and introspection, rather than hate. In terms of media, positive mass media campaigns at the beginning of the COVIDpandemic can help break stereotypes and decrease prejudice. Furthermore, encouragement of informed publication and readership is imperative so that we come to conclusions based on broad-based, sound, quality information, not narrowly presented, sensationalistic journalism. In terms of public health, providing resources to support vulnerable AAPI communities is a first step. Outreach and advocacy (Liu et al., 2020) and governmental health, economic, and social assistance (Misra et al., 2020) is key.

Author contributions

Andy Jan: Analysis and interpretation of data and drafting and revising the article.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors report no declarations of interest.