Help-Seeking Tendencies in Asian Americans With Suicidal Ideation and Attempts

Among rising concerns surrounding heightened suicide in certain subgroups of Asian Americans, it is important to understand the help-seeking rates and pathways among Asian Americans experiencing suicidality. This study examined perceived need for care, help-seeking behavior, and chosen sources of care among Asian Americans compared with Latinos in the National Latino and Asian American Study who reported a history of lifetime suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, or mental disorders without history of suicide. Consistent with existing literature in Caucasians, suicide attempts in Asian Americans and Latinos were related to greater help seeking and perceived need beyond that of mental disorders only. However, Asian Americans with suicide attempts still reported lower perceived need and help-seeking behaviors compared with Latinos. In contrast to both the existing literature and Latinos in this study, Asian Americans with suicidal ideation were no more likely to perceive a need for help or seek help than Asian Americans with a mental disorder without history of suicide and were less likely to seek and perceive a need for help than Latinos with suicidal ideation. These findings point to the idea that Asian Americans who have serious suicidal ideation or attempts may underestimate the importance of their condition and do not receive the level of attention and support needed. Findings also show that Asian Americans with suicidal ideation and attempts prefer seeking help from nonprofessional rather than professional sources of help, other than medical professionals. Clinical implications for outreach, assessment, and management of suicide are discussed.