Aufgabe Vorschlag B3 - 2 · Abitur Hessen Englisch GK 2022

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Amanat Khullar: A mental health crisis brewing among South Asian immigrants in the West needs serious attention (2020)

The article discusses problems of South Asian immigrants who move to western countries such as the UK or the USA.

The stigma around mental health, especially among South Asians, often deters members of the

community to seek help. Dil to Dil, a non-profit organisation in the US, aims to address just that.

Tahim, a licensed professional counsellor based in Washington, D. C., is a member of the online

community working towards deconstructing stigma surrounding mental health illnesses in South Asian

5 communities through open and honest conversations.

“We have someone share their journey and their own mental health story, which allows people to

know there are others that may be experiencing the same thing that they are going through,” the

31-year-old explained, adding that they are mostly active on Instagram. “It also gives people the

opportunity to speak openly in a safe environment.”

10 Brown Girl Therapy, a mental health community for children of immigrants, is another such initiative.

Founded by Sahaj Kohli, a second-generation South Asian immigrant and therapist in training in New

York City, the online community aims to help immigrants – especially South Asians and women of

colour – learn more about therapy and identity exploration.

Such online communities and a rise in conversations on social media around the common mental

15 health struggles of South Asian immigrants have helped take away some of the stigmas around

therapy, which Dr. Tina Mistry, a Birmingham 1 -based clinical psychologist, said has brought several

members of the community to her clinic.

[...]

For children of immigrants, there is a duality in their hyphenated existence 2. “We have the freedom to

20 pick and choose from both cultures, identities and communities,” Kohli wrote on Twitter. “But with

that also comes the isolating reminder that we don’t totally belong in either.”

This cultural conflict, especially among teenagers and young adults, can often lead to an identity crisis.

“You could get to a point where you suddenly realise I haven’t got a clue who I am,” explained

Mistry. “It’s not a binary process. It’s a very gradual transition that you may face. [...] So you get this

kind of conflict of sorts, and begin to wonder, ‘Who am I supposed to be? What am I supposed to

25 be?’ ” [...]

In her practice, Tahim has encountered a number of cases of depression and anxiety among her South

Asian clients, which she believes are often a result of suppressed emotions. To get to the root of the

issue, Tahim says she asks her clients: “What did you perceive as love and being cared for when you

were growing up?”

30 Often, the response is linked to academic or professional achievements. “Coming from a South Asian

culture, we’re told that success only means making a certain amount of money, being in a certain

career field or achieving more than a relative’s child,” said Tahim.

While it’s not unusual for accomplishments, identity, and worth to be intertwined, according to Kohli,

this can create unique struggles for children of immigrants in the workplace and in their careers.

35 “Parentification,” explained 35-year-old Khaira, can be another common struggle for children of

immigrants, “where they act like grown-ups for their parents – helping them negotiate the challenges

of life in a new country, especially where there is a language barrier”.

A common narrative that plays out among the global South Asian diaspora 3 is of a resilient community

40 that moved away from their native lands with little money in their pockets, often facing racism and

violence in their adopted country.

“We’ve all grown up knowing about this, and sometimes, as children of immigrants, you might feel

like your struggles pale in comparison to that of your forefathers and so you shouldn’t complain,” said

Kahira. “This can lead to children of immigrants invalidating their own experiences and telling

45 themselves they have no right to be unhappy because ‘at least they have it easier than the generations

before them’, or worse, having their feelings and experiences be minimised by their families because

they themselves had it worse.”

This dynamic can often breed shame and guilt, which Mistry classified as “toxic emotions that can

immobilize us,” and can lead to low mood and depression. Through therapy, Mistry said, she aims to

50 help South Asian immigrants pass down their gifts to the next generation, rather than their burdens.

Being an immigrant also means having to “adapt to live in a white person’s world,” she said. “We

have to assimilate and mould according to the dominant culture because of the fear of racism.”

(724 Wörter)

1 Birmingham – city in England

2 hyphenated existence – describes the dual identities of immigrants belonging to two cultures or nationalities, such as Asian-American

3 diaspora – a group of people who settled far away from their ancestors’ homeland

Amanat Khullar: A mental health crisis brewing among South Asian immigrants in the West needs serious attention, in: Quartz India, 15.09.2020, URL: https://qz.com/india/1903589/immigrants-in-uk-us-struggle-with-depression-finding-therapist/ (abgerufen am 05.04.2020).

2 Compare the situation of South Asian immigrants in Western countries as described in the text to Ali's in "My Son the Fanatic".

(40 BE)