Among Japanese families, the topic of mental illness is heavily stigmatized. A South Bay support group hopes to do its part to help these families learn how to navigate the mental health system and support their loved ones with mental illness.
When Chiaki’s son was diagnosed with schizophrenia, she longed for a support network to help her find care for her son. As a first-generation Japanese mother living in America, navigating the U.S. healthcare system in an unfamiliar language and culture left her feeling isolated.
Over the past 10 years, it has served as a space for members, many of whom are first-generation Japanese mothers, to share how their kids are doing, exchange their experiences and learn how to talk within their families about mental illness. Five of the group’s members spoke to The Times about their experiences, four through a translator and whom asked that only their first names be used to protect the identity of their children.
The U.S. mental health treatment system has long been a fractured maze for patients and their families to navigate, but the experiences of those in Chiaki’s group speak to added barriers for diverse communities. “Because [of] stigma…it’s hard enough as it is for people to access services in a language or culture that they’re comfortable with,” Omoto said. “So it’s probably even more unlikely that they’re gonna go to mainstream services.”
One day, Yoneko’s daughter suffered a breakdown and drove herself to the emergency room with Yoneko’s car. After a day with no contact, Yoneko asked her daughter-in-law to take her to the hospital where she found her car in the parking lot, door unlocked on the driver’s side and keys left in the ignition. When she asked at the front desk where her daughter was, they couldn’t say.All Yoneko could do was take her car and return home to wait.
As Chiaki began to advertise more, the group grew. Meetings moved from Chiaki’s house to the library at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center to the L.A. County Wellness Center across the street from Harbor-UCLA hospital in the South Bay. During the pandemic, the support group moved its meetings to Zoom, and Chiaki sometimes gathered those unable to attend the meetings online for lunch at Mitsuwa Marketplace in Torrance, where there’s an outdoor patio.
“I thought that maybe I [should] push a little more,” Masako said through a translator, “but I don’t speak English, so I can’t do it.” But what has amazed Heller the most is seeing participants cite giving support to other families as another positive benefit of being in a support group. In Chiaki’s group, members find comfort in a support group that speaks the same language and carries similar cultural values. There were unsaid things that everyone simply understood, like how difficult it is to talk about mental illness among one’s family and community.
Even later, when the Mizushimas participated in family therapy sessions, Eutah Mizushima said the Japanese-speaking counselor also didn’t really know what words to use. Naomi Mizushima dove in, joining NAMI in 2020, and not only attending meetings but also getting certified to conduct mental health-focused workshops. Through her volunteer work and experiences, she realized how cultural stigma around mental illness was overlooked, yet so prevalent among the Japanese and other Asian American communities., which combats stigma in these communities through education and events.
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