Psychological Stress and Depression and its Treatment - Essay Example

CASE STUDY David being the 1st generation Korean American is facing serious psychological stress and depression. Though he was a withexcellent track record in his previous educational programs, he is presently facing a serious challenge in both health as well as his grades. This is more of a psychological problem which could be helped out by using good counseling program. Similar problems are faced by many other students who migrate from different places for higher studies. A good counseling at his high school counseling center could be of great help not only to him but also for such similar cases. Students with emotional disturbance frequently require services from counseling that apply different eligibility criteria. The teenagers of the age of David are quite diverse in terms of their needs and strengths. The students present with a complex range of disabilities, from conduct disorder to schizophrenia. Counseling centers in the school campuses endeavor to support the personal and professional growth of students. It is the responsibility of counseling centers to support as many students as possible by facilitating the mental health with the resources available to them. Many counseling centers are multifaceted, offering students direct services, personal, career, and group counseling, and broader outreach programming and consultation. Counselors in the schools work individually and with other educators to meet the developmental needs of students, including those with special needs or learning disabilities. This program should focus on the academic, career, and personal/social developmental needs of students, including those with special needs as the case of David. Young people like David with high academic ability who excel during their elementary and secondary school years are not necessarily guaranteed similar success in their higher studies, especially when they migrate from their home town to different places for studies. The transitions academically and socially from school to high school and college are well recognized, but these challenges may seem even more daunting for students who represent the first to pursue higher education from their immediate families. Although the theoretical literature offers several explanations related to underachievement concerns in gifted school-aged students, limited research exists pertaining directly to gifted young people of college age. In addition, issues such as immaturity, self-esteem, unrealistic academic expectations, and inherent learning difficulties have been examined by various researchers for their contribution to academic problems among otherwise talented students (Richard, 2002). Teenagers who feel as if their ethnicity, culture, values, learning styles, and interests are not in synchrony with the evident services and mission of the college they attend are placed at risk for underachievement and for leaving -either seeking transfer elsewhere or forsaking higher educational study altogether. Since David is determined to do his major in electrical engineering, it is important to use different tools either vocational/career assessment tools or even behavioral and or social emotional assessment tools to help him cope up with the situation. Researchers have explored issues of diversity associated with higher education. In an analysis of multicultural issues within community colleges, Rendon (1999) advised that the next generation of higher educators "will have to engage in critical analysis of the definition of student success and how the colleges can best serve the full diversity of their student clientele" (p. 202). In other works Rendon (1994, 1996) examined the plight of students representing racial and ethnic groups different from the majority culture and reminded educators to be wary of their unique need for validation through active outreach as they adjust to a collegiate setting that seems culturally alien (Richard, 2002). The struggle to achieve identity is a universally expected part of adolescence, regardless of cultural and ethnic background. However, for young members of ethnic minorities, identification with their own culture is an additional and important aspect of identity development (Phinney & Alipuria, 1990). Ethnic identity development is particularly critical for minority adolescents since they have, in addition to their ordinary developmental issues, the added burden of exploring the values of both their host society and their original cultures in the process of becoming a member of their own ethnic group as well as the mainstream society. According to Phinney and colleagues (1992), maintaining a positive identification with both ones own and the mainstream culture is an indicator of higher levels of positive psychological outcomes in adolescents. Several other studies also have demonstrated that ethnic identity is crucial to adolescents self-esteem and psychological well-being as measured in self-worth, sense of mastery, purpose in life, and social competence (Martinez & Dukes, 1997; Rotheram-Borus, 1989). Most of these studies point out that higher level of ethnic identity are likely to have a positive impact on the overall psychological outcome for students like David, while feelings of role confusion and alienation resulting from ethnic identity conflicts can lead to psychological as well as behavioral problems for ethnic minority adolescents. These behaviors can be categorized into two types: internalizing (psychological distress) and externalizing (conduct disorder). Specifically, internalizing problems refer to anxiety, depression, and somatic complaints, while the constellation of externalizing problems includes aggressive and delinquent behaviors. It is hypothesized that Korean American adolescents like David who score higher on levels of ethnic identity and attitudes toward other groups and score lower on perceived discrimination will display fewer problem behaviors than those who score lower on the two former scales and higher on the latter. Emotional difficulties are particularly pressing issues for many Korean American adolescents who face the challenge of successful psychosocial adjustment to their host society and, simultaneously, are expected to value and maintain their heritage culture through socialization with immigrant parents and members of their ethnic community (Rhee, 1996). Consequently, Korean American adolescents often experience serious identity crisis problems and with frustration, which has some bearing on a variety of emotional and behavioral difficulties. Studies have reported an increasing rate of depression, school dropout, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency among Asian American adolescents including Korean youths (Kim & Goto, 2000). The perception and experience of discrimination undermine adolescents ethnic identity and pride, which may contribute to their psychological distress such as feelings of social isolation, inferiority, and inadequacy (Uba, 1994). Some of the other researchers also have suggested that the awareness of racism promotes ethnic solidarity among minority members in order to combat racism collectively (Porter & Washington, 1993; Fordam & Ogbu, 1986). Particularly, when confronted with racial discrimination, minority adolescents tend to develop an oppositional identity that rejects the dominant societys values. This oppositional identity can be viewed as a racialized identity rather than an achieved ethnic identity, since it is accompanied by negative and rebellious attitudes toward the dominant society. In order to provide culturally sensitive counseling, counselors need to know and respect the traditional values of the particular ethnic group. Besides, the counseling process may be enhanced by attention to other salient factors involving acculturation, enculturation, personal issues, and environmental variables. The task demands individualistic acclimatize of the counseling process to meet the diverse needs of this growing ethnic minority group. The strong multicultural component of the United States population has prompted the need for counselors to consider multicultural factors when communicating with their clients (Zhang & Dixon, 2001). Consequently, policies and practices in counseling have and continue to be revised to address this need. For example, new guidelines on multicultural education, training, research, practice, and organizational change have been drafted to reflect the knowledge and skills needed for the counseling profession in the midst of dramatic sociopolitical changes in our society (American Psychological Association, 2002). Initially, counselors must be knowledgeable of the basic traditions that have been recognized in this multicultural group. To provide more effective cross-cultural counseling, counselors must be aware of their communication style, counseling style, and client expectations. A large repertoire of verbal and nonverbal behaviors will be beneficial (Zhang & Dixon, 2001). Language barriers may be mediated by action-oriented and artistic therapies. Concrete activities that allow clients to express their worlds and engage in self-discovery of subconscious themes, emotions, or beliefs could play an important role (Enns & Kasai, 2003). In case of David, the counseling program needs to focus on helping him understanding the need to give himself enough time to cope up with the cultural differences. It takes time to understand and accept the cultural differences. Hence a brilliant student like David need not panic with his scores in the first quarter of the senior year. Secondly, he needs to understand that his studies are not affected by the health ailments rather it is due to the psychological stress is the cause for his bad health. And hence the counseling should help him to overcome this problem. To help him to cope with the linguistic problems he needs to be referred to special coaching programs. This will make him have a more confident outlook for his future career. References Enns, C., & Kasai, M. (2003). Hakoniwa: Japanese sand play therapy. The Counseling Psychologist, 31(1), 93-112. Fordam, S., & Ogbu, J. (1986). Black students school success: Coping with the burden of "acting white." The Urban Review, 18(3), 31-58. Kim, T. E., & Goto, S. G. (2000). Peer delinquency and parental social support and predictors of Asian American adolescent delinquency. Deviant Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 21(4), 331-347. Kalivoda, K. S., & Higbee, J. L. (1994). Implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Journal of Humanistic Education and Development, 32(3), 133-137. Martinez, R., & Dukes, R. (1997). The effects of ethnic identity, ethnicity, and gender on adolescent well-being. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 26(5), 503-516. Phinney, J. S., & Alipuria, L. (1990). Ethnic identity in college students from four ethnic groups. Journal of Adolescence, 13, 171-184. Phinney, J. S. (1992). The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure: A new scale for use with diverse groups. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7(2), 156-176. Porter, J., & Washington, R. (1993). Minority identity and self-esteem. Annual Review of Sociology, 19, 139-161. Richard, O.F. (2002) Endangered academic talent: Lessons learned from gifted first-generation college males. Journal of College Student Development, Mar/Apr 2002. Rendon, L. I. (1994). Validating culturally diverse students: Toward a new model of learning and student development. Innovative Higher Education, 19(1), 33-51. Rendon, L. 1. (1996, November-December). Life on the border. About Campus, 1(1), 14-20. Rendon, L. I. (1999). Toward a new vision of the multicultural community college for the next century. In K. M. Shaw, J. R. Valadez, & R. A. Rhoads (Eds.), Community colleges as cultural texts. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Rotheram-Borus, M. (1989). Ethnic differences in adolescents identity status and associated behavior problems. Journal of Adolescence, 12, 361-374. Rhee, S. (1996). Effective social work practice with Korean immigrant families. Journal of Multicultural Social Work, 4(1), 49-61. Uba, L. (1994). Asian Americans: Personality patterns, identity, and mental health. New York: Guilford. Zhang, N., & Dixon. D. (2001). Multi-culturally responsive counseling: Effects on Asian students ratings of counselors. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 29, 253-262. Read More