Anonymous Story (XI)

I’ve been to the psych ward twice; my first visit was horrible. I’m A sian and they treated me like I was a joke, and didn’t care for my well-being at all. I was in there for suicide and an eating disorder. A patient there constantly made “eating dogs and cats” jokes towards me, which made my eating disorder worse. My eating disorder developed due to racism. 

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The staff didn’t care at all, and actually made it worse. The first thing one of the psychiatrists asked me was: “Are you Chinese or Japanese?” I’m Korean. They went on to talk about how “I have Japanese features,” and all that, barely even bothering to ask me questions about my mental health and what meds I need. 

 

I and another girl who was also A sian, (the only POC in the entire place) had our names mixed up constantly. We look nothing alike at all. They just viewed us “as that A sian one,” so the moment another A sian person arrived, they couldn’t tell us apart. It was so demeaning. 

 

I am my own person and I need help, I desperately need help. They would rather focus on my ethnicity than help me, I was in there for suicide, barely hanging on. I’m supposed to receive help and support here, but all I got was disrespect. It just reminded me that, no matter where I go, I’ll always be treated differently for not being white. Even in places where I’m supposed to receive the most support.

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