South Asian Mental Health Initiative and Network – SAMHIN is a nonprofit organization founded in 2014 to support the mental health and wellness needs of the South Asian community in the United States. Over 6.1 million people in the U.S. trace their heritage to South Asia (2020 U.S. Census). Many individuals and families continue to face stigma and barriers around mental health care. SAMHIN works to reduce stigma, increase awareness, build mental health literacy, and create pathways for support through education, community outreach, mental health resources, support groups, and improved access to culturally relevant care.
About South Asians
South Asians are people with origins in one of seven South Asian Countries – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives. They are an inherently diverse, vibrant, and multifaceted population.
According to the 2010 United States Census, there are 17.3 million Asian Americans, which is 5% of total U.S. population, with an additional 4 million identifying as multiracial Asian Americans. 3.18 million Asian Indians comprise the 3rd largest Asian racial group in the U.S., with Chinese and Filipino being the two largest groups. Other South Asians in the U.S. include: 409,163 Pakistanis, 147,300 Bangladeshis, 95,494 Nepalese, 45,381 Sri Lankan, and 19,439 Bhutanese. Those from the Maldives were not listed separately in the 2010 U.S. Census likely because of the small number.
SAMHIN Mission
SAMHIN strives to meet a wide variety of mental health needs of the South Asian Community in the United States.
- Educate, engage, and empower the South Asian community to promote mental health literacy.
- Serve as a resource to provide consultation to health care policy makers and health care delivery facilities.
- Increase collaboration between existing mental health organizations that address specific aspects of mental illness, increase awareness of the existence and roles of these organizations, and decrease fragmentation in services provided to the community.
- Promote and conduct research on mental health to serve the South Asian community in the U.S.
- Develop a searchable database of South Asian mental health care providers, social services, and mental health resources to improve access to mental health care.
- Overcome the stigma of mental illness.
- Explore ways of making affordable treatment services available.
SAMHIN History & News
Dr. Vasudev Makhija’s experiences growing up in Mumbai, India made him sensitive to the needs of others and inspired him to serve other people. He pursued this goal by becoming a physician and psychiatrist. After spending a decade of training and practicing in Pennsylvania and Delaware, Dr. Makhija moved to New Jersey to reinvigorate his cultural roots.
While practicing psychiatry in New Jersey for the past few decades, Dr. Makhija became involved with existing programs and helped create other programs for South Asians such as Jana Raksha Community Care Program. During this time, he realized that more needed to be done for the South Asian community. Dr. Makhija discovered many roadblocks that prevented South Asians from accessing mental health care, such as the stigma attached to mental health and the inability to find mental health providers who are culturally competent.
SAMHIN Founded
To seek out meaningful and practical solution to the barriers that prevent South Asians from accessing quality mental health care, address the stigma and other barriers to care, and address other mental health needs of the community, Dr. Makhija established SAMHIN, the South Asian Mental Health Initiative and Network in 2014. Download the Inaugural Event Souvenir Book.
SAMHIN’s Impacts
SAMHIN programs and volunteers have made a big impact in the South Asian community in the United States. We regularly attend local events and have created mental health programs and support groups. SAMHIN has also been featured in the news.
Indian Americans struggle with mental health issues – The South Asian Times
In 2023 SAMHIN was honored to received the American Psychiatric Association Foundation Award for Advancing Minority Mental Health at the APA’s Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA. Since 2003, the APA Foundation has recognized 107 community-based organizations with awards for their innovative and supportive work to raise awareness about mental illness in underserved minority communities. These efforts include promoting the early recognition of mental illness, improving access to quality mental health services, and addressing cultural barriers to treatment, with special attention to patients in the public health system or with severe mental illness. Vasudev Makhija and Samita Chandi, a second-year psychiatric resident from Detroit, Michigan, represented SAMHIN to receive the award. See event photos
SAMHIN’s Future Plans
Our future plans include the following:
- Support spreading awareness of substance use recovery in the South Asian community by connecting individuals and families to AA/NA/Al Anon & supporting the groups’ initiatives. These meetings are run independently and are a separate entity. SAMHIN supports their initiatives.
- Develop new partnerships and collaborations to bring educational workshops to more communities to improve mental health literacy and help overcome roadblocks to accessing care.
- Develop a program to provide access to affordable psychiatric care (low cost or even free) to South Asians who do not have health insurance or are financially disadvantaged.