How Korean-Americans are tackling mental illness stigma with help from TikTok, BTS and Zoom therapy

TikTok’s Nick Cho is a part of a growing movement of Korean-Americans openly talking about their mental health, breaking a long-held stigma in the community

The pandemic, too, has sped up acceptance of getting help for feeling low – Zoom therapy feels less stigmatising to older people than having in-person visits

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Korean-Americans are seeking more mental health help than ever, buoyed by everything from BTS and viral TikTokkers like Nick Cho (pictured) and nudged by the stress of the pandemic. Photo: TNS

Published: 4:15am, 14 Oct 2022Updated: 5:20am, 14 Oct 2022

For more than 3 million followers on TikTok, Nick Cho is their “Korean Dad”.

He walks his followers through a back-to-school shopping trip and wonders if they should buy “anime backpacks”. He does a finger heart as he cooks Korean ramen for two in stone pots with slices of cheese.

Lately, he has also been a counsellor of sorts. He described what it is like to be “in a deep pit of sad” following 2021’s mass shooting in the US state of Atlanta in which eight people, including six women of Asian descent, were killed. He has helped people cope with loneliness, equating it with hunger.

For Father’s Day this year, he talked about what it means to have a complicated relationship with one’s dad.

Nick Cho, known as Your Korean Dad, has more than 3 million followers on TikTok. Photo: Instagram/@NickCho

“I see you’re suffering. I know that with all the stuff people are going through, you don’t always feel like it’s important. It’s just your thing to endure,” Cho, sitting in front of his backyard in Los Angeles in the United States, told his followers. “But I want you to hear that it’s not just your thing. Your pain is important because you’re important.”

Cho, a 48-year-old who came to the US from Korea in 1975 as a baby and first found fame through a coffee business, did not expect to open “Pandora’s box”, as he called it, spending hours reading and responding to people messaging him about their concerns.