Mental health of international students

I was impressed with this week’s readings since I am very interested in mental health, especially among young people. Why is mental disorder a global problem in young people? I think it is related to the characteristics of youth. Young people are in the stage of transformation. They may start facing a number of challenges, such as building romantic relationship, peer pressure of using alcohol and tobacco, and stress of education and employment (Patel et al., 2007). As emerging adults, young people’s self-control on emotion and behavior is relatively weak, and they are greatly influenced by environmental and cultural factors.

We talked a lot about migration and mental health in class, which reminded me of the research I am interested in. I want to explore experiences of mental health in international students in the US. It is reported that over 700,000 international students at colleges enrolling in the US in 2010, according to the Open Doors report. China, with nearly 158,000 students, is the leading sending country. China, India and South Korea account for almost half of the international enrollments in the US.

International students are attracted by advanced technology, newest information, strong educational system and scholarship policy in the US (Sandhu, 1995). It is also a trend influenced by globalization. Transition to university could a tremendous change for young people, especially for international students, because they have to deal with cultural relocation and tend to experience more psychological problems than do American students (Leong & Chou, 1996). For example, differences in cultural values of international students, particularly Asian students, may cause social interaction problems, and thus lead to stress. The learning process of fitting the norms of the dominant culture is hard, requiring time and energy for many international students (Hsieh, 2006). Another example for reason of mental disorder can be that Chinese students and perhaps other Asian students as well, are supposed to obligate, respect, and have duty to their parents. The pressure to meet parental expectations often brings psychological stress and depression (Sue & Sue, 1997).

In particular, it is interesting to look at different meanings of mental health in different cultures. Based on what I have read, Western meanings of mental health emphasize that individuals should function well in different contexts, and meantime they should attempt to resist external difficulties to assist their own functions (Read & Wallcraft, 1995). By contrast, Chinese people tend to choose self-control, rather than to change the external environment (Liu, 2009). They are taught by Confucianism, an influential ideological concept in China, to restrain emotions and avoid the expression of intense/negative emotions, in order to achieve balance and peace (Yip, 2005). In this way, the different concepts of mental health may partly explain why Chinese international students are likely to underuse mental health services, or not adhere to treatment and therapy (Liu, 2009).

Therefore, what can be done to help deal with the mental health problems in international students? There may be cultural stigma and lack of information about availability of mental health service, which result to failure of seeking professional help (Pedersen, 1991). So it is important for mental health service professionals to improve cultural sensitivity, and counseling office can be located near to health center so as to reduce stigma (Wei et al., 2007). Additionally, I was thinking perhaps the universities can make efforts to promote contact with family and parents, taking the role of family communication into account. For example, mail the information (in native language) about activities, events, and services in the college to parents to show that the universities concern about and value international students, and encourage parent improve communication with their children. I was reminded of my personal experience that in my first year at Purdue, I received a birthday card, which was written in Chinese, Korean, Japanese and other languages, from the university. It was fantastic and really warming my heart. You see young people are easily moved and influenced… But the interventions are far more than that.

  

References:

  Vikram Patel, Alan J Flisher, Sarah Hetrick, Patrick McGorry, Mental health of young people: a global public-health challenge, The Lancet, Volume 369, Issue 9569, 14–20 April 2007, Pages 1302-1313.

  Liu, M. 2009. Addressing the mental health problems of Chinese international college students in the United States. Advances in Social Work, 10: 69–86.

Leong, F. T. L., & Chou, E. L. (1996). Counseling international students. In P. B. Pedersen, J. G. Draguns, W. J. Lonner, & J. T. Trimble (Eds.), Counseling across cultures (pp. 210-242). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

  Sue, D., & Sue, D. W. (1997). Counseling Strategies for Chinese Americans, in C. C. Lee (Ed.), Multicultural issues in counseling: New approaches to diversity (pp. 79-90). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.

  Wei, M., Heppner, P. P., Mallen, M., Ku, T.-Y., Liao, K. Y.-H., & Wu, T. F. (2007). Acculturative stress, perfectionism, years in United States, and depression among Chinese international students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54, 385–394.

  Pedersen, P. B. (1991). Counseling international students. The Counseling Psychologist, 19, 10-58.

  Yip, K. S. (2005). Chinese concepts of mental health: Cultural implications for social work practice. International Social Work, 48, 391–407.

  Read, J., & Wallcraft, J. (1995). Guidelines in equal opportunities and mental health. London: MIND Publications.

  Sandhu, D. S. (1995). An examination of the psychological needs of the international students: Implications for counseling and psychotherapy. International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling, 17, 229-239.

  Hsieh, M. (2006). Identity negotiation among female Chinese international students in second-language higher education. College Student Journal, 40(4), 870-884.

  http://www.iie.org/Who-We-Are/News-and-Events/Press-Center/Press-Releases/2011/2011-11-14-Open-Doors-International-Students