September 2025 Director's Corner: From Personal to Professional: Reflections on Suicide Prevention Month

I was a senior in high school when I tried to take my life. I was deeply depressed and thought that I was worthless and undeserving. It took me many years of therapy and intentional healing to dispel myself of these beliefs and sometimes, to be honest, these negative thoughts creep into my psyche. I was, and am, not alone. Suicide is the leading cause of death of AAPI youth ages 15-24 and these issues is not limited to our young people.

In my family, like many Asian American families, we didn’t talk about mental health, despite the fact that my white mother had bipolar disorder and we lived with the implications of her illness every day.  In addition, my Japanese American father’s sister died by suicide and he and my uncle had major depression in their lifetimes. It would have helped me if we talked about it. It would have helped me if someone said, your depression is not your fault. It would have helped me if someone reached out to me with empathy and understanding.

As an adult, I have worked to put language to my experiences and talk about my feelings. I have also made it a point to be open about mental health and mental illness with my daughter.  

September is Suicide Prevention Month, and we can’t prevent suicides by being silent.

I have devoted my work life to promoting mental health and preventing suicide. What does this look like? On the personal level, it means talking about mental health with family and friends. It means if I wonder if someone is struggling, I ask. It means I don’t shy away from emotional conversations and providing support to those who need it. It means taking care of my own mental health – through therapy, medication, and necessary self-care. It means reaching out to others to check-in and share.

It also means promoting NAAPIMHA’s mission “to promote and redefine the mental health and well-being of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander individuals and communities in the United States. NAAPIMHA specializes in training, programs, policy & advocacy, with a focus on centering those with lived experience.” We do this through providing Mental Health First Aid Trainings, which teaches individuals to be able to approach and assist someone with a mental health challenge. We deliver Achieving Whole Health trainings that encourage a holistic approach to mental wellness. We do programming for our National Asian American Pacific Islander Empowerment Network (NAAPIEN), which is a network of over 200 people with mental health challenges or Impacted Family and Friends who care for those with challenges. We follow important policy concerns and track how they impact the health of our communities. And we collaborate with other organizations to mobilize and make the work even more powerful.

We are a small but mighty organization and given the current funding landscape, I ask for your support and please give to our fundraising campaign.