然而疫情开始之后，老人中心不得不关闭。“我清楚地记得我们法拉盛老人中心获知第一例确诊病例，3月23号我们就关闭了老人中心，确保接触人员都在家隔离。”老人中心主任Helen Ahn说，自那时起，近距离接触的服务就暂停了，至今未能恢复。“我们坚持继续送餐服务，因为对许多独居老人来说，一日一次的送餐是他们的生命线。在送餐过程中，我们的许多老人和会员都多多少少，表达出焦虑、孤独和沮丧的情绪，如果是比较严重的案例，我们会转交给我们的精神健康诊所来介入。”

“疫情开始以来，很多人到精神健康诊所问诊，就诊数量上升了，但另一方面，也有许多人无法接受服务。”Yuna说，“如果老人没有网络、没有用过网络会议软件、或者是没有手机，那怎么办？”Yuna举例说，有一次诊所计划举办讲座，为了确保会员们能参加，不得不求助送餐的员工，带着手机，逐一教会员们使用网络会议软件Zoom。

“对于抑郁症患者来说，疫情真是太难熬太痛苦了。” Mija回忆过去一年的经历，她不仅要照顾自己的身体，自己的精神，更要照顾患严重糖尿病和阿兹海默症的丈夫：“我曾做过护士，我能够帮他做一些糖尿病测试，但我自己也有腰背疼痛的问题，因为他患有阿兹海默症，总是乱扔脏尿布和衣服，我一天要到地下室去洗五次衣服。”而更痛苦的是无人交流：“我没法控制自己，会在半夜里到处走。我哭泣，我跑出门，但因为疫情，外面没有任何人，我年纪大了，不会用电脑也不会打游戏，我求我的朋友出来一起吃午饭，但他们也不愿意，我每天都必须努力控制自己不去自杀。如果KCS开门，事情就不会那么糟糕。”

和Mija一样，许多亚裔长者都将老人中心看作几乎是生活中最重要的部分，因为在那里，他们能够获得为数不多的交流机会。而疫情中，不少老人中心都试图把活动搬到网上，但遭遇了许多意想不到的困难。“根据我们发现的一项数据显示，在邮政号码10002的区域，有一半接受调查的住户没有WiFi。”服务华埠多年的华埠共同发展机构总监陈作舟说：“这意味着在这一个网络时代，几乎所有的资源、信息都在网上的时代，你没有网络，就是被孤立了。而对于在疫情中尤其高危的老人群体来说，他们不得不待在家里，与此同时，还没有交流渠道。”

“我认为每个老人应该有权利拥有一台Chromebook。”曾服务于纽约州精神健康办公室30年的Kin-Wah Lee说，Chromebook并不算昂贵，特别是相比长期服用抗抑郁药、抗精神病药物所需要的经费，或者是自杀要去医院抢救的费用来说，Chromebook绝对是性价比很高的投资，能够大幅度提高老人们的生活质量。

“有网络，有一台Chromebook，世界万物都会向老人们开放。”Kin-Wah Lee说。

编者按：

五月是亚裔传统月，也是精神健康宣传月。在美国老年学会，代际记者联盟，银发世纪基金会

（The Gerontological Society of America, The Journalists Network on Generations and the Silver Century Foundation）赞助的系列节目中，我们特别关注在过去一年的疫情里，亚裔老人的精神健康经历了怎样的危机，同时，一起寻找如何获得各方的帮助，像保护我们的身体健康一样，守护我的精神健康。

Mental Health of Asian Elderly in the Pandemic: Making Connection to the World

"I smiled since I entered the door. I smiled and greeted to whomever I met, even strangers. I like to make others happy, it doesn’t cost me anything." Mija Lee was wearing a rose red sweater and pink vest and smiled gently. It is hard to associated her with depression. However, she suffered years from severe depression.  Mija and her husband emigrated to US and lived in Flushing since the 1970s. "She has since then experienced some mental health issues, specific concerns that were rooted in her childhood." Yuna Youn, a psychotherapist and the interim assistant director of the Mental Health Clinic in Korean Community Service Center (KCS), met Mija through the KCS Senior Center. Mija was an active volunteer in KCS. The rich activities in KCS also helped Mija get out of the shadow of depression.

However, after the outbreak of the Pandemic, all the seniors centers in New York City had to be closed. "I clearly remember the time we heard the first confirmed case in our Flushing Senior Center. We closed the Senior Center on March 23 to ensure that all contacts are isolated at home." Helen Ahn, director of the KCS Senior Centers, said that since then, all the in-person services had been on pause until now. "We insist on continuing the food delivery service, because for many elderly people living alone, food delivery, once everyday, is their lifeline. While we deliver the food, many of our members expressed that they more or less suffered from  anxiety, loneliness and depression. For some serious cases, we refer them to our mental health clinic for intervention."

"When it comes to receiving mental health, a lot of people have come to the clinic ever since COVID. So it’s gone up. But it’s more about accessibility issues. " Yuna said, "If someone doesn’t use the internet, or has never used Zoom, or doesn’t have a phone. So that was an example, when we did a workshop during COVID, we had to have the relationship between the staff who provide the homebound meals bring phones to seniors and then give them training on how to use Zoom so that they could even begin.” Yuna said that if people wanted to do one-on-one theraphy,  they need to use Zoom through out the year, that would naturally rule out a lot of seniors.

"It’s really hard for people who has depression." Mija recalled her experience in the past year. She not only need to take care of her body and spirit, but also had to take care of her husband who suffered from severe diabetes and Alzheimer: "I used to be a nurse and I was able to do some finger tests for him. But I have back pain and other health problems. He put soiled diapers here and there, because he has Alzheimer. My backpain got worse.” And what’s more painful is that no one she can communicate: “I ccould’t control myself, I once walked around in the middle of the night. I cried, I ran out the door, but because of the COVID, there was no one outside. I’m old, I don’t know how to use a computer or play games. I begged my friends to come out for lunch, but they didn’t dare to. I must try to control myself not to commit suicide every day. If KCS opens, things won’t be like this ."

Like Mija, many Asian elders regard the senior center as almost the most important part of their lives, because there, they can have opportunities for social and communication. During the pandemic, many senior centers tried to move their activities online, but they encountered many unexpected difficulties. "We stumbled up on a data that says zipcode 10002, half of the household in the survey shows that they have no wifi at home." said Wellington Chen, Executive Director of the Chinatown Partnership, who has served Chinatown for many years: "That means that during this internet age when everything in online, all the applications, helps and resources are online, it’s basically ‘you are isolated’. " The most vulnerable population in the pandemic are the seniors, because they are the one with the highest risk. So as a result they have to be alone. “And on top of alone, you have no contact, no communication. ” Wellington said.

"They should have Chromebook available for seniors as a right." Kin-Wah Lee, the former President of New York Coalition for Asian American Mental Health, who has served in the New York State Office of Mental Health for 30 years, said that Chromebooks are not expensive, especially when you compared to long-term prescribing anti-psychotic medication, anti-depression pills “or they wanna suicide and go to the hospital.”  Chromebooks are very small investment to bring a lot of wellbeing to our seniors.

“If the seniors have WiFi and Chrombooks, the world will open up to them. ” Kin-Wah Lee said.

Editor's words:

May is Asian Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month. We launched our special programs paying attention to the crisis in the mental health of Asian elderly people during the COVID pandemic in the past year. The program is sponored by The Gerontological Society of America, The Journalists Network on Generations and the Silver Century Foundation. We hope to promote the mental health while call for more attention to the equal access to the mental health resouces.