Immigrants and Refugees

I read an article by S.Adler that talked about a Laotian group that immigrated to the US after 1975.  After there immigration to the united states, a great number of their people were starting to die from an unknown cause. Medical professionals later labelled there death as SUNDS: sudden unexpected nocturnal death syndrome.  They hypothesized that the cause of their death was due to intense emotional stress (Adler, 1995).  This was a group that had a number of entities that were important to them, including good and evil spirits.  And so this emotional stress was a result of the men not being able to deal with there ancestors properly.  It was a result of losing some of the cultural beliefs that were central to their identity (Adler, 1995).  

Reading this article raised my awareness on every aspect that an immigrant and refugee faces when moving to another country- in this case the leaving behind of a culture and tradition that has been long held.  Immigrants and refugees have several hardships they face when moving to a country different from their own.  The common struggles include: the almost constant learning of English or/and french to improve their language skills; having to take the first job or home that is less than what they originally expected; gender roles tend to change as women often enter the job market before men do (Guruge &Collins & Bender, 2010)).  

In summary the difference between their old life and their new life will be great.  Often times because of these hardships, immigrants and refugees suffer from culture shock and later on certain mental disorders. 

What I found interesting is that upon arrival in Canada, immigrants and refugees are generally in better health than those in Canada. However, after 10 years in Canada, immigrants and refugees are more likely to be in poorer health than their Canadian born counterparts (Guruge, Collins & Bender, 2010).  This is because the common factors that follow migration are associated with mental health.  Most of these common factors have been recognized as social determinants of health. These include income and social status, employment and working conditions, physical and social environments, gender, culture, and access to health services.  Additional determinants that have a huge weight on mental health are social isolation, language barriers, financial and employment constraints, role reversal struggles, racism, and discrimination (Guruge, Collins & Bender, 2010). I wanted to write one after the other just to prove the point of how many struggles that are ahead of those moving into Canada.  Some of these aspects that I have mentioned may be dehumanizing and extremely stressful. 

Immigrants and Refugees often have to respond to repetitive questions regarding their experience of violence and abuse for the immigrant procedures necessary to come into Canada.  These repetitive questions, that cause them to relive traumatizing experiences, can have immense implications on their mental health. Common mental illness’s that are found among immigrants and refugees are depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. (Guruge, Collins, & Bender, 2010).

What I found also to be extremely surprising is that one of the major health determinants for immigrants and refugees into Canada is their access to services (Guruge, Collins, & Bender, 2010).  While there are many services that are intended to assist those new to our country during the post migration period, the actual accessing of such services can be extremely difficult. This is a result of trying to navigate bureaucratic hurdles, completing many application forms with a language barrier, or physically getting to various agencies that may not be in close proximity to them.  Lastly, volunteer or untrained interpreters may not be able to translate the language accurately (Guruge, Collins, & Bender, 2010).  Stress, as a result of these circumstances, can affect psychological and emotional well being, and exacerbate existing mental illness’s or result in new mental illness’s.

Programs such as Language Instruction for Newcomers (LINC) was specifically formed for newcomers coming into Canada. It was made to help reduce the language barrier between immigrants and refugees and the rest of the canadian population. As well, as lend knowledge about the lifestyle that these newcomers have entered (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2003). It is programs like these that help reduce the barriers that immigrants and refugees face when coming into Canada. It is programs like these that will help maintain and improve their mental health years after their migration. 

 -Morgan

References

Guruge,S., Collins, E., & Bender, A. (1999). Working with immigrant women: guidelines for mental health professionals. Canadian journal of Nursing Research, 41(3), 114-124.

Canadian Mental Health Association.(2003). Immigrants and Refugees Mental Health. Retrieved: 

http://www.cmha.ca/data/1/rec_docs/505_immigrationEN.pdf

Whitaker, E.D. (2006). Health and healing in comparative perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.