Depression in Asian American students is a problem that few people glimpse, let alone imagine. But it’s a reality–a painful one that’s often obscured by stigma, misconceptions and shame. After Katherine Kam received a 2012-2013 Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellowship, she spent a year creating this three-part series on mental health in young Asian Americans. Through publication with New America Media, the stories reached a wide audience. They were also translated into Chinese and Korean and republished in multiple ethnic media outlets across the country.

When post-traumatic stress disorder makes the headlines, the stories often focus on military veterans. But PTSD also affects civilians who have been traumatized by violence, serious accidents, and other terrifying events. Through three personal stories, this WebMD series explores PTSD among people from all walks of life: a young man stabbed during a street robbery, a cop who routinely witnessed human tragedy on the job, and a college student who survived a devastating car crash.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our lives in profound ways. This series explores the afflictions that many Americans faced in 2020: domestic violence, anti-Asian bullying, and worries about health, job losses, relationship strains and isolation. These stories appeared in WebMD and NBC Asian America. The project was funded with a California Fellowship from the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.