“Some students may go to counseling centers at their colleges, but they feel that this is not useful.”
Justin Chen, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital who specializes in cross-cultural psychological issues, said both depression and anxiety are very common among Chinese international students.
They are often stressed by factors that do not affect domestic students, such as language anxiety, concerns about their immigration status, post-graduation planning, lack of social support, homesickness, food differences and racism, Chen said.
“The data that do exist suggest that Chinese international students face high levels of depression and anxiety symptoms,” said Chen, who heads the Center for Cross-Cultural Student Emotional Wellness at Massachusetts General Hospital. The center was formed to address a lack of research in this area.
Doctor Cirecie A. West-Olatunji of Xavier University of Louisiana, a co-author of a review on the mental health situation of Chinese international students in the US, warned that high-profile suicides do not mean Chinese students overseas are more liable to self-harm.
“It’s not that Chinese international students experience these emotional and psychological problems more perhaps than US-born students, or compared to other international students,” West-Olatunji said. “It’s that some of the experiences of transitioning to the US come with unexpected challenges and problems.”
She said many Chinese students might have expectations about studying abroad that are different from real-life experiences. For example, some might expect more friendship with their US peers, but feel disappointed when they do not integrate on campus to the extent they had expected.
“As much as students might prepare with their English-language studies and other work, we know that the real experience of being here is much more challenging than they often imagine before they arrive,” West-Olatunji said.
Zhang, the Michigan State University graduate, experienced this challenge firsthand. She said it is hard for international students to become close with their US peers at first due to cultural differences. She got along with her three US roommates, but they did not immediately become close friends, she said.
“It’s not that they are not nice to you. It’s just that we all have different lifestyles,” Zhang said. “You have to adjust and overcome these challenges on your own.”
Some US colleges and universities do not have counselors who can speak Chinese or who have lived in China. As a result, Chinese students feel that their counselors cannot understand their anxieties.
A student from China at Boston University, who gave her name only as Catherine, said: “The counselors did not understand why I was afraid that my boyfriend considered me to be crazy and that I should go to a psychiatric hospital. They told me they did not consider I was crazy and it was ‘very normal’ for people to have mental health concerns. But this did not end my anxiety.”
More US colleges and universities are increasingly considering the needs of their diverse student populations.
Nicole Green, executive director of counseling and psychological services at the University of California in Los Angeles, said the school has one clinician who speaks Mandarin, four who speak Spanish, two who speak Korean, and one who speaks Vietnamese.
She said international students are more liable to discuss any mental health problems with their doctors first.
