In-depth and Interactive Discussion

In March 2018 the IAYG team met at a new location, the Durant-Kendrick historic home in Newton. We had a discussion on stress faced by Indian American youth.

Usha Tummala-Narra, a clinical psychologist and a professor at Boston university, spoke to us about different aspects of mental health and walked us through a quantitative study she had done with immigrant teenagers from a diverse Boston School. There was tremendous participation by both the parents and IAYG members as this is not a topic that is discussed very often. Some of the key points in the talk were that many South Asian immigrants feel that they need to be model immigrants especially in terms of success and this can cause academic and occupational stress. We discussed how many south Asian immigrants focus on only projecting the positive aspect of this group of people.

One facet that generated many questions and opinions was about studies that showed that the longer you stay in the US the worse your mental and educational outcomes were. This is counterintuitive since most people assume that life will be easier for future generations. It was interesting to have two generations in the audience. We discussed how in many cases, first-generation south Asian immigrants do not see race as an important factor for them in the US, while second and third generation immigrants are more aware of race. Girls were reported to have higher levels of depression than boys. We were also told about how to recognize depression and anxiety in our peer group and what questions to ask. Dr. Tummala-Narra cited several studies and gave us enough time for questions and answers. It was a very knowledgeable and interactive discussion, and left us much more informed.