*The Second Annual Asian American Mental Health Conference

Asian Youth Mental health is a concern • The Second Annual Asian American Mental Health Conference opens in St. Louis

On September 21, the second Annual St. Louis Asian Mental Health Conference was held at the St. Louis Chinese School.

In recent years, the mental health of Asian communities, especially the physical and mental health of young people, has attracted more and more attention from the society. According to data released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2024, 16.8 percent of people in the Asian community face mental health issues, yet the rate of Asians seeking professional treatment is much lower than that of whites. In April 2023, the Chinese American organization Committee of 100 (C100) conducted a questionnaire survey of 6,500 Chinese Americans, showing that 24% of the respondents had moderate or serious mental health risks.

The annual conference featured a strong guest lineup, including Dr. Angeline Stanislaus, Chief Medical Officer of the Missouri Mental Health Administration, and Professor Neha Navsaria, a renowned parent-child relationship expert, who spoke on community mental health discussions and resource sharing, adolescent mental health and family education, and parent-child relationship issues. Documentary filmmaker Aisha Sultan also brought her latest work for 2024, a documentary about "The phenomenon of Asian Parents and young people in school and employment", and discussed topics such as parent-child relationship and life planning with parents and teenagers on the spot.

In particular, the conference invited experts from the Chinese American Mental Health Alliance (MHACC) from California to share their services with the Asian community in St. Louis, especially mental health counseling and warm line services, to help local residents learn more about free professional resources.

A special session for high school students was also held at the conference, with representatives from UW Asian Mental Health Students' organization "In Between" and ment