Ahh, the pressure!

An article from CNN ...

"Push to achieve tied to suicide in Asian-American women"

Some interesting points:

"Asian-American women ages 15-24 have the highest suicide rate of women in any race or ethnic group in that age group. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for Asian-American women in that age range."

"First and foremost, they say 'model minority' pressure -- the pressure some Asian-American families put on children to be high achievers at school and professionally -- helps explain the problem."

"Family pressure often affects girls more than boys, according to Dr. Dung Ngo, a psychologist at Baylor University in Texas. 'When I go talk to high school students and ask them if they experience pressure, the majority who raised their hands were the girls,' he said."

Perhaps pressure would help explain this case:

"Wannabe freshman outwits Stanford"

I'd like to know what the statistics are for Asian-American boys and men, particularly adoptees. About 10 years ago, a close male friend committed suicide. I know another who tried. Both Korean adoptees.

In my friend's case, I'll never know for sure of course what led him to his decision, but I can think of two factors in his life that contributed to his depression: a profound sense of grief and loss surrounding his adoption, and unfortunately, rejection from his love interest, a Korean adoptee who wasn't attracted to Asian men.

In the latter case, I know there had been pressure from his parents to change his major in college. He wanted to be a writer. They thought he should go into business or finance.

I was fortunate, I guess. My parents supported my choice in majors in college -- once I actually decided on one.