The need to speak, to understand, to share their needs in order to seek for help. The need to end the nightmares following the long nights. Those arriving in Europe experience a range of different emotions mostly in their first day: from frustration to relief, from fear to happiness. As time passes there is a change to more complex emotions: anxiety, insomnia, and depression. All psychological conditions that if left untreated, can become invalidating and aggravate an already very delicate situation. For us Westerners it is not that easy to fully understand what these people are living and to understand that being safe in another country does not always reduce the fear. Running away means leaving behind a whole life, drastically changing their present, and this would have to be considered traumatic for anyone
A 2020 survey on global refugee populations showed that post-traumatic stress and depression among refugees and asylum seekers are higher than among the rest of the population. Whether we are talking about Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, the psychological impact that the experienced situations have had in the lives of the victims is devastating. Refugees and migrants arriving in Europe are often victims of the worst consequences of war, persecution, and other types of suffering in their home countries. Many have degrading experiences trying to escape, and once they found themselves safe, they face lack of information, hostility, and detention processes. The mental health and psychosocial well-being of individuals and communities can be threatened by several factors, including the nature of the events that led them to leave home, the conditions of the journey they faced, as well as discrimination and lack of access to basic services such as health, education, and food. Once in safety, refugees are also required to quickly adapt to new cultures, social dynamics, different languages, and different values, often with poor consideration of their lived experience.
It is important to provide psychological supports and dignified services that respect the individual's independence and privacy. Whenever possible, it is essential that the support allows people to maintain a sense of personal control, including keeping a constant discussion with refugees and migrants so their needs can be identified. Everyone, including people with special needs, children, or minorities has the right to be treated without discrimination of any kind. Good psychological support in these cases also involves arranging for interpreters and staff with significant cultural knowledge so that the refugee can feel welcome. Psychological help is part of social integration, it is a multidimensional process through which individuals participate in key activities for the development of a sense of belonging. Moreover, the inclusion of refugees in host countries requires a positive attitude by the host community and local authorities. Their insertion into our societies is part of a very comprehensive rehabilitation journey. Lack of access to psychological support pathways can also lead to the compromising of the recognition of international protection. This happens because victims of torture are very often denied the application for protection because of their claims are considered to be possibly unfounded. Thus, the option of possible "traumatic memory" is not considered, a condition that leads the individual, already a victim of abuse and violence, to remove memories, create discrepancies in their personal stories and thus lose credibility. Without general specialized support, mental health services end up treating only people who exhibit pathological symptoms, leaving out many others and allowing traumatic situations to become chronic.
The first weeks of a refugee acceptance and relocation journey are crucial as this is the time when expectations and plans meet reality. Although the desire is always to be able to integrate as quickly as possible, the process of adapting and integrating may take longer than hoped for, but if the help is well provided, this may help to raise and even transform life expectations thanks to the new opportunities provided by the host country. Understanding the stages each migrant goes through and the possible response on an emotional level is important so that support is built on approaches and activities appropriate to specific needs. The psychological support in such cases is not only about fulfilling moral obligations but also about creating long-term conditions for integration and inclusion.
Translated by Flora Stanziola
Copyright © 2022 - Mondo Internazionale APS - All rights reserved
Sources consulted for this article:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/04/20/refugees-europe-need-mental-health-support
https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/24/france-afghan-evacuees-need-mental-health-support
https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003337#sec015
Share the post
L'Autore
Chiara Giovannoni
Chiara Giovannoni, classe 2000, è laureata in Scienze Internazionali e Diplomatiche all’Università di Bologna. Attualmente frequenta il corso di laurea magistrale in Strategie Culturali per la Cooperazione e lo sviluppo presso l’Università Roma3.
Interessata alle relazioni internazionali, in particolare alla dimensione dei diritti umani e alla cooperazione.
E’ volontaria presso un’organizzazione no profit che si occupa dei diritti dei minori in varie aree del mondo.
In Mondo Internazionale ricopre la carica di autrice per l’area tematica Diritti Umani.
Categories
Tag
refugees Migrations help