Mental and Behavioral Health – Asian Americans

• Suicide was the leading cause of death for Asians, ages 15 to 24, in 2022.¹
• Asian American male students in grades 9–12 were 20% more likely to have attempted suicide than non-Hispanic white male students in 2023.²
• In 2023, Asian American adults were 50% less likely to have received mental health treatment than non-Hispanic white adults.³
• Southeast Asian refugees are at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with trauma experienced before and after immigration to the United States. One study found that 70% of Southeast Asian refugees receiving mental health care were diagnosed with PTSD.⁴
• In 2021, the overall suicide rate for Asian Americans was less than half that of non-Hispanic whites.⁵

Mental Health Status

Serious psychological distress in the past year among persons age 18 years and over, percentage, 2023
Non-Hispanic Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
10.2	14.2	0.7

Feelings of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, or that everything is an effort, all or most of the time, among persons age 18 and over, percentage, 2018
	Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Sadness	1.5	2.7	0.6
Hopelessness	1.2	2.2	0.5
Worthlessness	1.7	2.3	0.7
Everything is an effort	6.6	6.5	1.0

Serious psychological distress among persons age 18 and over, percentage, 2018
Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
1.9	3.7	0.5

Major depressive episode in the past year among persons age 18 and over, percentage, 2023
Non-Hispanic Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
4.8	9.1	0.5

Any mental illness in the past year among persons age 18 and over, percentage, 2023
Non-Hispanic Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
18.1	24.0	0.8

Serious psychological distress among adults age 18 and over, age-adjusted percentage, 2004–2006
Population	Serious Distress	Ratio / All Asian Population	Ratio / Whites
White	2.9	--	--
All Asian and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	1.9	--	0.7
Chinese	1.6	0.8	0.6
Filipino	2.5	1.3	0.9
Asian Indian	1.4	0.7	0.5
Japanese	1.1	0.6	0.4
Vietnamese	2.5	1.3	0.9
Korean	1.3	0.7	0.4
Other Asian and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	2.6	1.4	0.9

Death Rates

Age-adjusted death rates for suicide by sex, race, and Hispanic origin, 2021
	Non-Hispanic Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male	10.2	30.0	0.3
Female	4.1	7.5	0.5
Total	7.0	18.6	0.4

Suicide rates by age, race, and Hispanic origin, 2019: Males
	Non-Hispanic Asian Males	Non-Hispanic White Males	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
15–24 years	16.3	25.6	0.6
25–44 years	11.9	36.0	0.3
45–64 years	11.9	38.3	0.3
65 years and over	12.2	37.6	0.3
All ages, age adjusted	10.1	28.0	0.4

Suicide rates by age, race, and Hispanic origin, 2019: Females
	Non-Hispanic Asian Females	Non-Hispanic White Females	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
15–24 years	4.9	6.1	0.8
25–44 years	4.0	9.8	0.4
45–64 years	4.9	12.6	0.4
65 years and over	5.1	6.2	0.8
All ages, age adjusted	3.7	7.7	0.5

Adolescents

Death rates for suicide: ages 15–19, 2021
	Non-Hispanic Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male	12.4	17.7	0.7
Female	5.7	5.0	1.1
Both Sexes	9.0	11.6	0.8

Students in grades 9–12 who seriously considered attempting suicide in the past 12 months, percentage, 2023
	Non-Hispanic Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male	11.0	16.0	0.7
Female	18.0	28.5	0.6
Total	14.4	22.1	0.7

Students in grades 9–12 who attempted suicide in the past 12 months, percentage, 2023
	Non-Hispanic Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male	7.1	5.7	1.2
Female	8.8	10.9	0.8
Total	8.0	8.3	1.0

Access To Health Care

Adults age 18 and over who received mental health treatment in the past year, percentage, 2023
Non-Hispanic Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
13.5	27.0	0.5

Adults age 18 and over who received mental health treatment through prescription medication, percentage, 2023
Non-Hispanic Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
6.5	20.6	0.3

Adults age 18 and over with a major depressive episode in the past year who received treatment for depression, percentage, 2019
Non-Hispanic Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
51.7	70.2	0.7

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¹ CDC. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web-Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). Leading Causes of Death. (back)

² CDC, 2024. High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. High School Students Who Actually Attempted Suicide, 2023.  (back)

³ SAMHSA, 2024. Results from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Detailed Tables. Table 6.21B. (back)

⁴ National Institutes of Health. National Diabetes Education Program, 2006. Silent Trauma: Diabetes, Health Status, and the Refugee: Southeast Asians in the United States. (back)

⁵ CDC, 2024. Deaths: Final Data for 2021. National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 73, No. 8. Table 10. (back)