Mental Health of the Immigrant

In light of the recent news of a 28-year-old Kenyan, who committed suicide in the UK due to loneliness. I thought I should start the conversation on " The Impact of Living abroad, on the mental health of the immigrant"  We are often oblivious of the adverse effect of living in a foreign country. It is a topic rarely talked about, perhaps because the majority cope fairly well. However, there is a minority that does not. it should however become an important consideration in emigration.  The story reads below:

-A glamorous 28-year-old businesswoman killed herself because she struggled to cope with living alone in Britain with her family spread across the world.
Sales manager Sharon Bukokhe, of Levenshulme, Manchester, was a high achiever working for a family planning charity but felt lonely because relatives including her husband lived abroad.

A diary found after her death said: ‘I think that any life is as valid as the next, such that an ending of 25 is as good as 88. I have no real regrets or fears anymore, I just feel decisive and justified.’

Mrs. Bukokhe’s sister Caroline Lusiche, who flew in from Canada to be at the inquest in Manchester said, there were many factors that led to it.

‘She was a high achiever, her marriage was also a big factor. She wanted it to succeed but he was in South Africa doing his masters. She moved and they decided to put that marriage on hold.

‘She had come here as a very young girl and it really affected her that we were all dispersed in different countries. In the last few days, we had been trying to get back in touch with each other.

‘But because of the time difference- me in Canada – we kept missing each other. I sent her an email and did not hear back then I heard.

‘She was trying to be the one to bring the family together, she had a lot on her shoulders weighing on her. She had high objectives we were taught to hold our chin up and get on with it.

‘She tried to persevere she wanted to do that to protect your feelings – she didn’t want to make you feel bad.

There is a  price to pay for living abroad, being away from one's home country, friends, family, and everything that is familiar.
Only yesterday, I was reading stories about Filipinos who go abroad to work, solely to send money home, to help their families put food on the table, pay children's school fees, and get by.
 

It is an established fact that the  Philippines' economy is sustained by remittances sent home by OFWs (Overseas Filipino workers) an income source, the Government encourages. Remittances in 2011 were approx US$ 20 billion
More than a million Filipinos every year leave to work abroad through overseas employment agencies and other programs, including government-sponsored initiatives, I was intrigued.

 Mothers leave their young children to work abroad in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait,  Saudi Arabia, North America, etc. for an extended period. One can only imagine the psychological burden, these families have to bear, and the impact on the Mother's mental health.
All across Africa, and many developing countries, we hear similar stories. 

A couple of years ago, I listened in on a Psychiatrist here, talk about the effect of living abroad on the mental health of  Caribbean people in North America. He raised many valid points. 
Anyone who has lived abroad, for an extended period of time would tell you the cold truth.
 You need some form of buffer, to keep a healthy mental state in an alien environment.
It is important to have family members or be in constant touch with Friends. One needs a social group that shares some form of commonality with them.

The mental health of a migrant group is often determined by factors relating to the society of origin, factors relating to the migration itself, and factors operating in the society of resettlement.
In the United Kingdom, Irish, the Caribbean, and Pakistani men have higher rates of suicidal thoughts and deliberate self-harm.
For people who have fragile mental health, loneliness can lead to depression and Bipolar disorder.
Here in Trinidad and Tobago, I know of a couple of African doctors, Nigerian and Ghanaian who have committed suicide.
In many of the cases, loneliness might have led to marriages, into a culture that is quite different from their society of origin, and issues arise that fracture their fragile mental state.
Below are some findings by the American Psychological Association;

The Mental Health Needs of Immigrants

- Many immigrants have difficulty acculturating to their new environments in the new country. Which is exacerbated by experiences with prejudice and discrimination. acculturation is the process through which immigrants adapt to the culture and institutional systems of their new country, transcend all aspects of lives (e.g school, work, and community life)

-To support their families, immigrants are often forced to take jobs in manual labor, even though they may have training and education for professional jobs. thus, many immigrants cannot sustain their former economic and social status, which can lead to psychological distress.

-Immigrants may feel torn about where to draw the line between fitting into their new society and into their own ethnic community and preserving their original way of life. Children and adolescents often acculturate more quickly than their parents, which can lead to significant family conflicts and a lack of family cohesion. Feelings of isolation often emerge with family conflict and the struggle to develop a tight social network

-Exposure to traumatic conditions, coupled with difficulties in acculturation can lead to severe and long-lasting psychological and behavioral problems, including depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and a high risk for suicide.

- Access to quality culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health services is CRITICAL (emphasis is mine)  for immigrant populations.



No matter which country you are stationed abroad, there is a helpline.

Do not hesitate to make a call, there is help.