The Psychological Effects of

Migration: Refugees and

Immigrants from West
Africa.
Made by :Siham Lguerd
• Results CHAPTER 3
• Discussion
• Methodology CHAPTER 2
• Research design & Target population
• Introduction CHAPTER 1
• Clinical/key facts
PLAN
 Introduction
 The world has become more globalized in which cross-national migration is more
attainable and attractive. This attractiveness has continuously contributed to the
increase of migrants around the globe. The WHO European Region has seen an
increase of 1.3 million international migrants per year from 2000 until 2015. In 2015,
76 million refugee groups were residing in Europe, making up 10% of the overall
population. In 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
reported that 1.7 million people worldwide submitted asylum or refugee status
applications .In 2015, 1.2 million people submitted asylum applications in the EU
Member States alone; this was more than double the number of applications in the
previous year (Priebe et al., 2016) .These high statistics show how migrants in
general are desperately seeking a better life in developed countries.
 This paper deals with two major questions: what are the factors that pushed people
to migrate (pre-migration difficulties) specifically from West Africa? What are
migration-related factors (post-migration difficulties) that influence immigrants’
mental health in host countries? Additionally, this paper aims to give voice to the
sub-Saharan African immigrant communities and refugees who constantly suffer in
silence due to the precarious circumstances in both home and host countries .
Clinical / key facts
 The relationship between immigration and mental health has significant public
health implications, and historically immigration status has been linked to increased
mental illness. (Shekunov, 2016)
 Immigrant groups from across the world have higher rates of psychotic disorders

compared to natives, with risk persisting into the second generation.

 Refugees are highly associated with mental disorders include: depression, bipolar

disorder, schizophrenia and other psychoses.

 There are many different mental disorders, with different presentations. They are

generally characterized by a combination of abnormal thoughts, perceptions,

emotions, behavior and relationships with others. (Mental Disorders, n.d.)
 Methodology

Research
design Target
population
 Research design
 The backgrounds of the study ‘The Psychological Effects of Migration’ were extensively
conducted from Pubmed and, websites of nongovernmental organizations NGOs, such as
the International Organization for Migration and UNHCR. Pubmed was selected to cover
the object of the study; it includes primarily the MEDLINE database of references and
abstracts of life sciences and biomedical topics and other subsets of NLM records United
States Library of Medicines.
 In this study, we opted for the quantitative content analysis which allowed us to analyse
textual findings about psychological researches of migration in particular; this technique
has paved the way for us to conduct statistical analysis of immigrants’ psychological
processes both before and after movement. Also, this study was based on some analyses
about mental health disorders (PTSD, schizophrenia, depression) in post-migration stage.
Target population
 The target population of this study focalizes on immigrants and refugees who escape
from the hardship of their home countries and decided to settle in safe and
developed countries. Immigrants and refugees are considered as vulnerable
categories when it comes to economic, social, and security conditions. To be more
specific, we tacked the region of West Africa. That is, sub-Saharan African
immigrant communities are the target group for this study.
 Results
 The quantitative content analysis has significantly allowed us to analyze multiple studies
about mental health problems among immigrants and refugees, Odgaard’s classic studies
(Rack, 1985) as an example have showed that migrants were more at risk for illnesses than
the indigenous population, and also more than their peers who had remained at home.
 Other mental health studies (Pumariega et al., 2005) , (Yearwood et al., 2007) , (Bustamante
et al., 2018) , (Fino et al., 2020) confirm the side effects and risk factors of migration .
 The results we have come across during our analysis are shown in two fundamental
sections: The first section elucidates the risk factors of migration which is subdivided into
three parts, pre migration, migration, and post migration. The second section shows the
common mental health problems among immigrants and refugees.
 Pre-migration Migration Post-migration

• Age, developmental • Logistics of migration • Exposure to racism and

stage in children process (route, duration). discrimination.
• Reasons for immigration • Cultural shock . • Discrepancy between
(voluntary or forced). • Exposure to violence . expectations and
• History of persecution or achievement .
other trauma. • Difficulties of
integration.
 PTSD

High level of Mental

Anxiety Depression
disorders

Somatisation
 The findings of study (Steel et al., 2009) have demonstrated that reduced social integration is another
invisible risk factor that combines both social isolation and unemployment. These aspects have a long-
term effect on mental health. Social isolation is associated with a higher likelihood of depression while,
unemployment prevents full integration with new environment

 The prevalence rate of psychosis in refugees is around 2%, which is similar to psychosis rates among the
general population in western countries. (Fazel et al., 2005) (Bogic et al., 2015)
 Refugees are about ten times more likely than the age-matched general population to have post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) – 9% of refugees in general and 11% of children and adolescents have PTSD.
 The data available found that 2 % (range 1-6) of refugees had psychotic illness such as schizophrenia
and delusional disorders (Fazel et al., 2005), same data showed that 1 in 20 refugees suffered from
depression.
 Discussion
 The analyzed data presented above demonstrated how hard the situation of
refugees and immigrants is, amid difficulties of fitting in a totally different
environment along with history of mental instability. This review systematically
have dealt with two substantial dimensions, the causes and effects that are
entitled with risk factors of migration and the psychological damages of this
global phenomenon. We concluded through our analysis there is no doubt that
prior and post migration experiences crucially influence the psychological status
of different types of migrants throughout the world. However, policy applications
and options are highly required to solve this dilemma.
 The most fundamental strategy for reducing the risk of mental disorders in refugees and
immigrants once they have arrived in the host country is general support. That is,
meeting their basic needs and ensuring their safety, and feel that they are accepted and
integrated into society (Fazel et al., 2005). Furthermore, evidence suggest that
facilitating social integration can improve the outcomes of existing disorders and prevent
the onset of new mental disorders, especially depression .
 Health professionals, social care and community groups need to collaborate to enhance
social integration and reduce marginalization and isolation
 training and supervision programmes for mental health professionals are good practice
recommendations develop a better understanding of the background and experiences of
refugee and immigrants groups
 Conclusion
 Our conducted analyises have indicated that the local and international efforts to
responding to these issues are deficient . However, the willigness to change the
depressed situation of immigrants and refugees is higher . The efforts and
implications to eradicate the barriers of integration and cohabitting is
implemented to facilitate the social integration of refugees, asylum seekers and
irregular migrants within the host countries, and to adopt good practices that
improve access to and outcomes of mental health care.