Taking Care of Your Mental Health: Part 3

During this time you may experience bias, discrimination, or misunderstandings because of your identity or your relationship to people who live in China. If any of the following happens, please consider the options available:

- If you read false information or insulting/condescending articles from the media and you are feeling angry, helpless, or wronged due to your hometown or culture being slandered:

Please know that these reactions are valid and potentially helpful. If your current state allows, you can provide feedback and advocate through appropriate channels, such as writing emails to the media, reporting the article etc. You can also share your thoughts with people you trust in order to advocate together or to seek support. 

- If you experience discrimination against your racial, national, or provincial identity:

Make a record of the incident by writing or keeping a voice memo of the details. If the incident happens at work or at school, consider reporting the incident or seeking  support from professionals. You can share your experience with people you trust or on appropriate platforms; it might validate your feelings and thoughts. 

- If a friend, adviser, or someone you know says something insensitive or discriminatory:

It is valid to feel angry, confused, sad, and disappointed, especially when someone you know is the source of bias. After you take care of your own emotional health, you could consider reporting the incident and/or having a conversation with the person about the experience. If you would like to do that, writing down what you want to say might be helpful.

-It is also okay to not respond. If you do not have the time, energy, or mental resources to take further action, it is okay – you have endured a lot already. It is common to not want to think about the incident or to take action. If you have made a record of the incident, you can keep it out of sight and continue with your daily activities. If and when you want to return to the subject and have the energy to do so, you can retrieve the record and seek appropriate actions. You can also choose to keep some distance from the media, making a record of troubling articles or reports, then blocking them so that you do not have to see them again. If and when you have enough energy to return to the subject, you can confront it then.

Adapted from: https://www.mtholyoke.edu/counseling/mental-health-coronavirus