A century of roots — and a heaviness that goes unnamed: Depression in Vancouver’s South Asian communities

Depression in Metro Vancouver’s South Asian community: a generational picture

The longevity of the Punjabi community in Metro Vancouver has produced something distinctive: multiple generations living within the same social geography, with all of the expectation, visibility, and obligation that entails. The grandparent generation arrived when mental health services were minimal and cultural understanding was absent. The parent generation managed whatever came through work, faith, and community — the same tools they inherited. The current generation is often the first to seriously consider therapy, and doing so without the family script is its own challenge.

Depression across these generations looks different. For older community members, it may appear as physical complaints, withdrawal from community participation, or what gets described as ‘not being themselves.’ For middle-aged adults managing both their parents’ expectations and their children’s futures, it often looks like exhaustion so complete that rest does not help it. For younger adults, depression frequently carries an identity dimension — the sense of being Punjabi in a way their parents do not recognise and Canadian in a way their peers at school did not quite accept.

BC’s BC Ministry of Health mental health resources acknowledge the unmet mental health needs of culturally diverse communities in the province. Acknowledgment is the beginning. What Metro Vancouver’s South Asian community needs is practitioners who do not require a cultural translation at every session.

The BC housing crisis as a mental health factor

It would be incomplete to discuss depression in Metro Vancouver’s South Asian community without naming the housing crisis. For a community whose identity has historically been connected to property and land — the farm, the house, the physical establishment of the family — the extraordinary cost of housing in Metro Vancouver creates a particular kind of despair. Young South Asians who cannot afford the neighbourhoods their parents built are experiencing something that lands differently than generic financial stress.

The multigenerational household, common in South Asian families and practically useful in an expensive city, also brings its own pressures: the lack of privacy, the management of multiple adult relationships under one roof, the weight of obligations in both directions. For many families in Surrey and the surrounding communities, what gets labelled as conflict or stress is often depression wearing the clothes of a family problem.

Depression therapy for South Asians in BC: what Sukoon Cares offers

Our practitioners work with CaCBT — the approach developed specifically for South Asian communities — alongside CBT, EMDR, DBT, and somatic approaches. British Columbia’s professional body for counsellors, BCACC, maintains strong standards for therapeutic practice. Our practitioners across BC are appropriately registered and bound by professional confidentiality.

All sessions are online via encrypted video. For clients across Metro Vancouver — in Surrey, Burnaby, Abbotsford, Richmond, Delta — this means access to South Asian practitioners without the community visibility concerns that in-person therapy creates in tight-knit communities.

Individual adult therapy is $175 per session. Financial support is available on request. A free 15-minute connection call is available before any commitment.