If you’ve seen my past posts you probably have realized that I usually enjoy taking on the lighthearted, humorous side of K-pop. However, once in a blue moon, I guess I have to act my age and be an adult. This usually happens when I am talking about things that are very near and dear to my heart. One of those things is mental health. In the U.S. it’s become more and more acceptable to be open about mental illnesses. Things aren’t perfect – the stigma still exists in America, but there is progress. However, in K-pop and specifically Korean culture, mental health is something that hasn’t completely been accepted to the extent at which other cultures have come to accept it. I am not here to condemn a culture to which I do not belong and will not pretend to completely understand, but I am here to shed some light on things I have learned in studying Korean culture.
After getting sucked into the black hole that is K-pop, I became obsessed (healthily obsessed!). I decided to go back to college for Korean studies because I fell in love with learning about a culture so different from mine. “What is a hyung?” I’d ask myself. “Why is he bowing so low to that other person?” “What is the history behind the Korean War?” I wanted so much to learn more, so I went to school.
In my senior year I wrote a thesis about the mental health of North Korean defectors living in South Korea. I had chosen this topic because of my interest in North Korea and my own personal feelings about mental heath. I myself struggled (and continue to struggle) with anxiety. However, once I accepted the fact that I wasn’t crazy and that I had an illness, just like someone who has any other disease, I was able to get help.
While I wrote my thesis, I learned more about mental health in modern day Korea. Korean culture is rooted in Confucian principles. One must be able to overcome and put others before themselves. This is in no way a bad way to think. Confucian principles are very healthy principles to follow, but when there is no balance one can take these principles to the extreme. This is when it becomes unhealthy.
The number one cause of death for young people in South Korea is suicide. The suicide rate is rapidly increasing. Many Koreans either do not feel the need to get help for their mental issues or feel afraid to be labeled unfairly in society. They believe they can overcome this, or that they are just being weak and must toughen up (much like Confucian principles emphasize). For the most part, in Korea, depression, anxiety, and OCD are not perceived the same as illnesses like diabetes or cancer. Mental health is a serious issue but it’s swept under the rug.
But slowly, you can see the subject being breached. Doctors have embraced mental health therapy techniques often used by those in the West. And just look at K-dramas and K-pop itself. I am beginning to see more awareness than ever before. Korea has a long way to go in getting people the help they need, but this is a start.
Recently one of the biggest breakthroughs was when Lee Hyori, A.K.A the queen, spoke about her issues with mental health on a talk show:
“I drank alcohol every day, nervous that I would lose my popularity overnight and sad that I had been tricked,” she said. “I went to a mental health clinic when Kim Je Dong suggested I do so.”
I am a huge fan of Hyori, but this just made me love her more. This was an amazing step in the right direction. When a role model for young women as big as the queen openly discusses her issues with depression and her positive experience with therapy, it is a step towards destigmatizing it. More celebrities that have impact on the new generation need to step up and discuss serious topics like this. Only then will horrible statistics like the suicide rate in Korea decrease – because people will be able to talk about it and get support.
The main reason I wrote this post was because I started watching It’s Ok It’s Love. I actually started watching it for D.O. I couldn’t resist a drama with my squishy Kyungsoo **cute aggression** - I had no idea what the plot was about at all. Everyone kept telling me how good it was so I, of course, began the painstaking journey of watching another drama. I was ready for the emotional roller coaster but it was NOT what I expected. AN ENTIRE DRAMA BOUT MENTAL HEALTH! And a positive message about it to boot. WOW! This was progress! There are so many instances in the drama when the psychiatric doctors reiterate the message that mental health needs to be seen as nothing different than any other illness. That many people – if not all people – deal with some form of mental health issues in their lifetime. More drama topics like this one are huge steps in the direction that society needs to go.
Positive things are happening in Korea regarding mental health, and having the entertainment business on board will definitely help. Many young kids look up to idols and actors and they can be a large factor in changing the stigma surrounding mental health in Korea.
Let us know how you feel below!
New York Times, Medical Daily, Kpop Staz
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