Mental Illness & Treatment in Filipino American Culture

• Four values prevalent amongst Filipinos are hiya, lakas ng loob, the bahala na attitude, and utang na loob. While these four values are typically looked at as positives, they can negatively effect one's mental health and disposition. These values are important to have, thohugh they shouldn't be prioritized over one's well-being. (definitions below)

​

• Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Filipino Americans have reported higher mental health tolls than Asian Americans collectively. This is due to their cultural community placing such high value on socialization. The loss of social support due to physical distancing guidelines became a significant stressor.

​

• One crucial barrier to achieving well-being and improved mental health among both ‘local’ and overseas Filipinos is their propensity to not seek psychological help. Not only are help-seeking rates much lower than rates found in general US populations, they are also low compared to other minority Asian groups. Yet, few studies have been published on Filipino psychological help-seeking either in the Philippines or among those overseas. Most available studies have focused on such factors as stigma tolerance, loss of face and acculturation factors.