Sikhs seeking mental health aid battle ‘weakness’ stigma
Editor s Note This article was written for Mosaic an independent journalism training plan for high school students who assessment and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists Sikhs in the Bay Area who seek mental healthcare care sometimes face disapproval from other members of the Sikh group who may regard mental physical condition problems as fabricated or as a character failing Noor Khera of Livermore stated she has struggled with mental physical condition issues but was hesitant to get help out of concern about being perceived as weak I have heard it multiple times Be strong she commented One day I started wondering why am I so weak My husband announced to me You re not weak you re sick It allowed me to accept what s wrong with me and to work on that She commented her decision to take a specialist s advice and start antidepressants has made her feel much better Dr Ravinder Randhawa a Sikh psychiatrist at Kaiser Permanente Fremont Healthcare Center commented patients she s seen have mentioned this reluctance a multitude of various times They re scared of being judged by family and friends She herself faced judgment when she chose her profession My own father he was extremely disappointed He questioned the field I was choosing He would tell people I am a medical practitioner but what kind of clinician So I had to take that disappointment in and it did bother me a bit But ultimately she declared I was able to educate all my family and encourage them to be more open to seek help This issue is not particular to Sikhs of lesson A lot of Asian communities struggle with emotional expression Randhawa announced Related Articles High-traffic boulevard raises concerns in three South Bay cities Santa Clara cafe combines cats coffee and Korean custom South Bay schools shape AI policies to catch up to tech-savvy students More small businesses starting to go cashless Floral design career began with San Jose man s coffee shop encounter Naz Khera of Tracy stated her efforts to confide about mental healthcare issues to family and friends were shut down directly She added that only made the difficulty worse with disapproval from others piling onto mental medical problems It would get so bad I would crash but that is also where rebuilding comes in She added that the issue can be especially formidable for women and girls We have to appear a certain way which is not ourselves in front of any group member that we meet As dated as it may sound there is still a strong sense among chosen that vitality issues are all in your head Randhawa disclosed But I can say the same thing about habits and hypertension You can control these by eating well running and exercising But when it comes to mental robustness she added for certain reason people just don t understand Certain younger Sikhs note there is a gap located between them and older generations Numerous Sikh families in the Bay Area include immigrant parents who may have come from an setting where mental wellness was downplayed Kamalpreet Kaur is the Sikh Novice Association president at Sacramento State A lot of men are sent out of Punjab to work and save money he revealed They have to end up keeping their struggles buried inside them Likely answers lie within Sikhism itself There is a lot of meditation in our religion noted Arsh Kaur Sidhu president of a wellness backing group at Sacramento State University as well as peacefulness and acceptance Agamjot Aulakh is a member of the class of at James Logan High School in Union City
