Can traditional Eastern practices such as acupuncture and tai chi be adapted to help with modern mental health challenges?
That's the question being investigated by Albert Yeung, MD, ScD, the Associate Director of the Depression and Clinical Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.
In recognition of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month this May, we spoke with Dr. Yeung, about his research on Asian American mental health and the use of traditional Chinese medicine in treating depression.
What Drew You to Mental Health Research?
I'm drawn to exploring and understanding human behaviors, which led me to study psychiatry.
I went into research because I find it very fulfilling. You can ask questions and organize your knowledge, and you feel more confident about what you know. When you publish a paper, you feel that you have shared something with the world.
Why is it Important to Have Culturally Sensitive Treatment for Mental Health?
My cultural background affects how I see mental health. I'm Chinese American. I was born in Hong Kong, completed medical school in Taiwan, and came to the US as a graduate student. When I first learned about psychiatry, it was a culturally new thing to me.
After finishing my psychiatry training at Massachusetts General Hospital, I spent much time serving Asian Americans in Boston's Chinatown. My patients would ask me, “What happens in psychotherapy? What do I need to talk about?”
Since many Asian Americans may not be familiar with psychiatry or psychology, I study how to offer better treatment for them.
How Has Your Cultural Background Influenced Your Research Interests?
Culture affects the way one looks at themselves, the world and illness. How people see and manage depression can be very different across cultures.
For instance, in the West, when people feel depressed, they may feel that they should talk to someone. While in the East, people may think that they should rest.
Data shows that Asian Americans utilize mental health services the least. This is possibly due to stigma and a lack of understanding of mental disorders.
Existing knowledge [of mental health disorders] is based on Euro-American culture. To many Asians, it seems very foreign. As an Asian psychiatrist, I feel that it’s my obligation to translate this knowledge to patients from Eastern backgrounds.
You may ask, “Can providers serve patients from different cultures?” The answer is yes!
But providers need the training to be able to understand illnesses from a patient's perspective and communicate in a way that patients can understand.
What Inspired You to Study Acupuncture and Qigong/Tai Chi for Treating Mental Health Disorders?
Psychiatry is rooted in Euro-American culture and is a relatively new clinical specialty in Asian countries.
I wondered, “In the past 5,000 years in Asia, what did people do when they were depressed or anxious?”
I found studies with positive outcomes using traditional Chinese medicine methods such as acupuncture, Qigong (movement, breathwork and meditation that focuses on the body’s energy) and Tai Chi (a specific style of Qigong focused on martial art forms) to treat people with mood and anxiety disorders.
In my own study, I found acupuncture to be beneficial in the treatment of depression in patients both using and not using antidepressants.
Our team has also published a series of studies which showed Tai Chi to be effective for patients with depression.
Dr. Yeung demonstrating Tai Chi. See full video here.
Could You Describe an Ongoing Study of Yours?
While researching Asian Americans with depression, we noticed that many participants focused on their physical symptoms–like loss of appetite, fatigue, or insomnia–rather than their emotions.
Usually, Western medicine doesn’t have much to offer for the treatment of physical distresses caused by depression, which can lead to frustration among Asian American patients.
In a current study funded by the National Institute of Health, we are recruiting Asian Americans with depression and physical symptoms. We offer participants Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART), a comprehensive program which provides training on meditation, problem-solving and positive thinking.
In this study, we want to see if adding Qigong/Tai Chi to SMART helps the treatment of Asian Americans with depression and physical symptoms. Our goal is to provide a culturally appropriate holistic intervention to help Asian Americans with depression and functional physical symptoms.
By incorporating cultural sensitivity in the understanding of mental illnesses and their treatment, I aim to broaden the reach of mental health services and make them more accessible to Asians so that more can benefit from the contemporary treatment available in psychiatry.
Research at Mass General Brigham
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