A series of racial attacks on the Filipino-American has been a major cause of stress among college students, a number of surveys showed.
Nearly half (46%) of Asian-Americans reported anxiety during the pandemic and 15% reported depressive symptoms, according to a Stop AAPI Hate survey.
Another survey conducted by the UC Davis Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies during the first half of 2020 indicates that the pandemic may have had a higher impact on the mental health of Filipino-Americans in particular while Filipinx Count Survey found that 81% of Filipino-Americans reported anxiety during the pandemic and 73% experienced depression.
RELATED STORY: PH Embassy tells Pinoys in US to exercise utmost caution amid rise in Asian hate crimes
Additionally, the COVID-19 surge has ensured that for Filipino-Americans like Amelia Catacutan the mental health was at an “all-time low.”
Catacutan, a college student entering her sophomore year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said social isolation, virtual learning environment, anxiety over her family’s well-being plus and rise in anti-Asian hate crimes has been a reason for worry.
Christine Catipon, a licensed clinical psychologist in Los Angeles, who works with college students, said the pandemic was just a “recipe for disaster for so many Filipino-American students.”
READ ON: Filipina envoy faces hate crime incident in New York subway
Catipon said many had heightened anxiety about family members who were healthcare or essential workers. According to a 2020 report from National Nurses United Filipinos make up a large portion of the health-care industry in the U.S., with 4% of registered nurses nationwide being Filipino. Nearly 32% of registered nurses who have died of Covid-19 and related complications were Filipino.
Inflammatory political rhetoric about the coronavirus, such as the term “China virus,” prompted a surge in hate crimes and anti-Asian hate crimes in 16 of America’s largest cities increased by nearly 150% in 2020, according to data collected by the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. (AW)
