Packing up your entire life into a few suitcases and moving to a foreign land is not something everyone has experienced. There are many stressors that are involved in moving to a new country. Buying a house and finding a job are usually on the top of on an immigrant’s to do list. I moved to Canada four years ago, leaving behind the home I grew up in, my extended family, my high school friends, my boyfriend and my dog. These were things that gave me a sense of belonging and had shaped me into the person I was. Leaving all this behind and moving to a country that I have never been to was probably one of the bravest things I have ever done. I landed in Canada mid December (with no winter jacket) even braver. This can be a stressful journey. Literally, if you are from a far little island called Sri lanka, like I am.
There were a lot of overwhelming new experiences. The entire city was covered in snow, people did things differently, even the high school was completely different from what I was used to. It’s then that I realized the true meaning of the term “culture shock”. “For the immigrants the separation from their roots, culture, social ties and the taken for granted pattern of daily life is a traumatic separation” (Bar-Yosef, 2001, p.231). Immigration affects the entire family system. Family members have to change their roles in order to adapt to the new life style and cultural norms. This can be very stressful, especially on parents. If they are from a very traditional country that has strict beliefs, it puts a lot of pressure upon the parents to continue these values and upon the children to balance these values and the values of the current society. They are emotionally torn apart by conflicting values in Canada’s multi cultural society.
Beiser wrote that “For many immigrants, resettlement stresses such as discrimination and underemployment experienced after arrival in Canada add substantially to the risks of experiencing psychological distress” (as cited in Simich, 2010, p.19). Stressors involving resettlement could also include language barriers, social isolation, low social and economic status. “Refugees have acute unmet needs for mental health care because of traumatic pre-migration experiences” (Simich, 2010, p.19). Refugees on the other hand sometimes come into this country suffering from a mental illness. Post traumatic stress disorder is a common illness that can be seen among refugees. Immigrants and refugees could also not be informed about the health services available to them or there could be language barriers that prevent them from seeking help. I think that immigrants and refugees are a vulnerable population that is susceptible to mental illness and their lives contain far more risk factors then the average Canadian.
-Iresha
References
Bar-Yosef, R. W. (2001). Children of two cultures: Immigrant children from Ethiopia in Israel. Journal of Comparative Family Studies , 231-246.Simich, L. (2010). HEALTH LITERACY, IMMIGRANTS AND MENTAL HEALTH1. Canadian Issues , 17-22.
Immigration to any country can be stressful and these stressing factors vary from learning the language to getting a job and safe housing. I can share from my experience when i first came to Canada, my family was very protective of me and my sister because they didn't trust anyone or know anyone. Me and my sister wanted to go out and meet with our friends, but our parents didn't let us and that caused a lot of tension and conflict within our family. Good post.
ReplyDelete-Medina
I'm sure there are programs in place to help immirants cope with stressors when moving to Canada, but are they properly advertised to the immigrants? I personally would not know, but is a good question to ask.
ReplyDelete-Kerri
I never even considered that immigrant parents face inner conflict when trying to keep their traditional values in place in a totally different place n culture. This really puts me in someone elses shoes and instead of people thinking that they are wrong and enforce European ways on them we should embrace diversity and accept everybody's culture. If people were not so ignorant and unaccepting to their culture it may make it easier on them to live in this foreign land.
ReplyDeleteBrittany
I never thought about the effects immigration had on the roles within the family until reading this post. My mother immigrated to Canada when she was 7 and always says it was a good experience except for the impact it had on her mother. She said her mother struggled between letting the girls interact with a new culture and feeling the need to protect them. This post gave me new insight into what that might have actually entailed.
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
-Katelyn