Week 8 - Giverny Yang
Giverny Yang
Week 8
In belief in mental health, Kai Cheng Thom shared his story about when he tried to commit suicide and his father told him he had to take the SAT the next day and that this incident should not be brought up because it would be bad for their family. On some note, I could definitely relate. It's always about the family name. Always. Protect the sacred family name. Keep it together in front of everyone else. Keep it behind closed doors. Is this something that is significantly important in the Asian culture or just in general with everyone? Either way, I could relate to this part. He also describes his father as emotionally inexpressive and that too is something I know of all too well. I can never really tell how my dad feels about topics because he doesn't show his emotions. I feel like this is a male thing, but maybe it falls to Asian men even more? Honestly, I think society tells us men cannot show emotions or at least before. As society becomes increasingly more progressive, it is starting to become normalized for men to express their emotions, such as crying, but before, such as in our parents' generations, it wasn't seen as masculine, therefore men were forced to be emotionless, unless they were angry.
Thom states in his writing, "Here is what I am proposing: that mental health was invented to sell us something, though what that “something” is shifts and changes depending on who and where
you are—because “mental health” itself is a shapeshifting fantasy, a dream with no
substance that fades even as we are told we are grasping it." When I read this, I could kind of see his point. Is there something that actually qualifies for everyone that actually makes us "mentally healthy"? Being mentally healthy varies from person to person but who sold us the idea? Thom also discusses how instead of trying to contain or get rid of mental illness, we should question what healing we need and what is it trying to teach us. I am not sure how I feel on this take but it is a new perspective I haven't heard or thought about before and will continue to be a topic I continue to think about to decide my take and position about this.
Week 8
In belief in mental health, Kai Cheng Thom shared his story about when he tried to commit suicide and his father told him he had to take the SAT the next day and that this incident should not be brought up because it would be bad for their family. On some note, I could definitely relate. It's always about the family name. Always. Protect the sacred family name. Keep it together in front of everyone else. Keep it behind closed doors. Is this something that is significantly important in the Asian culture or just in general with everyone? Either way, I could relate to this part. He also describes his father as emotionally inexpressive and that too is something I know of all too well. I can never really tell how my dad feels about topics because he doesn't show his emotions. I feel like this is a male thing, but maybe it falls to Asian men even more? Honestly, I think society tells us men cannot show emotions or at least before. As society becomes increasingly more progressive, it is starting to become normalized for men to express their emotions, such as crying, but before, such as in our parents' generations, it wasn't seen as masculine, therefore men were forced to be emotionless, unless they were angry.
Thom states in his writing, "Here is what I am proposing: that mental health was invented to sell us something, though what that “something” is shifts and changes depending on who and where
you are—because “mental health” itself is a shapeshifting fantasy, a dream with no
substance that fades even as we are told we are grasping it." When I read this, I could kind of see his point. Is there something that actually qualifies for everyone that actually makes us "mentally healthy"? Being mentally healthy varies from person to person but who sold us the idea? Thom also discusses how instead of trying to contain or get rid of mental illness, we should question what healing we need and what is it trying to teach us. I am not sure how I feel on this take but it is a new perspective I haven't heard or thought about before and will continue to be a topic I continue to think about to decide my take and position about this.
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