Many were concerned about limited mental health education and awareness.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s very little information available in Thai for easy access,\u201d said Keith Chatprapachai, president of the Thai-American Assn. of Southern California<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ben Komenkul, a travel advisor, said that while he has talked about his mental health with family and loved ones, he feels it\u2019s not enough and wants to learn how such conversations can be more socially accepted.<\/p>\n Data and graphics journalist Phi Do speaks to community member at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in North Hollywood during the summer. <\/p>\n (Juliana Yamada\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n During the conversations with community members, people talked about their financial anxieties, stress due to overwork and the loneliness of adapting to a new culture in a new country. Some described managing their psychosis, how depression impacted their livelihoods and how schizophrenia affected their families.<\/p>\n Here is some of what The Times learned:<\/p>\n Some wanted their community to understand that while their mental condition may look invisible on the outside, their pain is real. <\/p>\n Kwanklao Disbanchong, a chef, didn\u2019t realize she had depression when she opened her restaurant Ruam Mitr. At work, she flitted between paperwork, cooking, online orders, posting on social media, and making connections at farmer\u2019s markets. She was grateful for her mother, who helped support her through the stress of running the business.<\/p>\n In 2022, her mother died unexpectedly. A month later, she separated from her wife, who had helped her run the restaurant.<\/p>\n Chef Kwanklao Disbanchong brings ingredients for a pop-up kitchen outside Bar Bandini in Los Angeles in September.<\/p>\n (Carlin Stiehl\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Disbanchong stopped doing the things she loved. For more than a year, she avoided touching anything in her kitchen, because it reminded her of her mom cooking for her every day. She retreated from friends and community members because they would offer unsolicited advice, insist that she looked \u201cnormal\u201d or question her feelings because she owned a successful restaurant.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m the one that knows myself,\u201d Disbanchong said. \u201cI want to tell people \u2026 that you cannot tell those who are struggling with mental health what to do. Just listen, sincerely.\u201d<\/p>\n Salug \u201cDis\u201d Rojanasopondist lost his oldest sister, Nonthavan Rojanasopondist, to suicide in 2018. She had been battling various mental health conditions including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and dissociative identity disorder.<\/p>\n His family cared for her as best they could. At his mother\u2019s restaurant, they asked customers \u2014 police officers, social workers and community members \u2014 for advice, eventually connecting with a psychologist who spoke Thai.<\/p>\n Nonthavan Rojanasopondist, pictured in Long Beach in 2016, died in 2018.<\/p>\n (Salug Rojanasopondist)<\/p>\n The symptoms, however, worsened. Nonthavan would wander off in the middle of the night or cause disturbances at Thai temples. Once, she stole her mom\u2019s car and drove north until she ran out of gas.<\/p>\n When Nonthavan died, Dis mulled over different scenarios, replaying events in his mind over and over.<\/p>\n \u201cI encourage anyone else who might be dealing with something similar to not blame yourself, because it\u2019s not something that\u2019s within your control,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He remembers his sister as an artistic person who \u201ctaught me how to really appreciate art.\u201d She loved to paint religious, ethereal drawings, which inspired him to take up portrait photography.<\/p>\n Suicide prevention and crisis counseling resources<\/p>\n If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, seek help from a professional and call 9-8-8. The United States\u2019 first nationwide three-digit mental health crisis hotline 988 will connect callers with trained mental health counselors. Text \u201cHOME\u201d to 741741 in the U.S. and Canada to reach the Crisis Text Line<\/a>.<\/p>\n Many Asian businesses were swept up in the June immigration raids<\/a>, including one outside a Home Depot near Thai Town.<\/p>\n As an outreach community worker for Thai restaurants, Nongnapus \u201cMild\u201d Phuangthong of the Thai Community Development Center<\/a> said that many businesses are understaffed and fearful ICE will target them next.<\/p>\n \u201cThis leads to anxiety, because they\u2019re afraid they\u2019re not able to support themselves, find shelter, find food for their family,\u201d Phuangthong said.<\/p>\n Other providers talked about feeling helpless to care for their clients amid changing legislation. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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