My journey from South Korea to Russia

Setting: At Home In South Korea

“I never learned Korean in school. I always reflected on the idea of how my parents impact my mental health positively or negatively. I think, from what I can tell, mental health in Korea is very different, and the reason why I think it is different is because all the terms are different. For example, if I try to think of a word for depression in Korean: there is a parallel word; however, the connotations are totally different. Therefore, the word that I remember using a lot growing up when I was trying to tell my mom that I was sad was “woo-ool-hae” which translates roughly to “I’m sad” or “I’m feeling moody”. However, it’s totally different than just a passing thing that you could experience on a given day...”

Setting: At Home In Korea

…“ Also, I was like: “why am I perpetually sad?” then I realized that I may have actually contributed to the ongoing struggle of not giving myself space because I would tell my mom: “I'm sad”; She would say: "oh, I'm sorry you're sad", but then, that response felt small compared to my experience. My experience was bigger than the term "WOO-OOL-HAE”, and I don't think there

Setting: 9 th grade in Russia

Setting: Russia

“Thus, growing up I thought depression was a day-to-day thing where I was like: l’m sad today, but l’m also sad the next day, and the next day…”