Many obstacles in mental healthcare remain within Asian American communities, including the lack of awareness and acceptance of mental illness. Parisa will address this issue by gathering first-hand accounts of diverse lived experiences with mental illness from Asian American community members. Subsequently, Parisa will evaluate the effects of exposure to the narratives on Asian Americans’ awareness, understanding, and personal perceptions of mental illness. This research project will result in the production of a publicly accessible, digital collection of narratives as well as a paper analyzing its effects.

Advisor: Mary-Kim Arnold (English)