Migration and suicide
Recently, there has been a growing need worldwide to improve our understanding of mental health issues among migrants and ethnic minorities.
The migration process is a complex phenomenon that involves leaving behind one way of life and identity to adopt a new one. Psychologically, it represents a life-changing event. It is an act that involves the migrants, their families, and the receiving society.
Migration is not a cause of developing a mental disorder, since the individual is capable, through their own evolution, of coping with this situation, but it is a risk factor for mental health when the person is not healthy or has a disability or when the host environment is hostile.
Migrants may have a higher risk of suicidal behavior compared to the general population, as well as of death by suicide.
Migrants often experience physical and emotional trauma, and may even have been victims of torture. This can lead to mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mood and anxiety disorders, or psychotic disorders. Several studies even suggest that migration could be considered a unique risk factor for serious mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia.
The challenge of mental health in migrants
Research shows that migrants in the European region experience depression and anxiety at higher rates than the native population. Between 9% and 26% experience post-traumatic stress disorder, which is comorbid with depression in up to 40% of refugees.
Regarding suicide, recent studies have shown that migrants and ethnic minorities may have a higher risk of suicidal behavior and death by suicide compared to the general population. Furthermore, children and adolescents among them exhibit higher rates of mental disorders, a greater risk of psychotic episodes, and more suicide attempts than the native population.
Migration, gender and suicide
Regarding gender, we know that worldwide the number of suicides in men is higher than in women, although women make more attempts of lesser lethality.
In the case of migrants, it is important to consider that migration processes are largely defined by the gender roles determined by each culture. Thus, gender stereotypes can be driving forces behind migration: men are often expected to be the primary breadwinners, with the pressure and psychological stress this can generate; and in the case of women, factors such as fleeing forced marriages or gender-based violence, or societal rejection of single mothers or separated women, among others, also play a role.
In the case of women, fleeing forced marriages or gender-based violence, or the rejection of single mothers or separated women, can be reasons for migration processes.
Migrant women experience a particularly high incidence of gender-based violence, both in their country of origin and their country of destination, due to their greater vulnerability. This is a risk factor for developing mental health disorders such as PTSD and mood disorders, which are sometimes accompanied by suicidal ideation and an increased risk of suicide.
For all these reasons, it has been shown that non-European migrant women have a higher risk of suicide attempts , especially young women of South Asian and Black African origin.
Risk factors for suicide in the migrant population
The risk factors identified in migrant populations that are more specific to suicidal behavior than in the general population are:
- Acculturative stress (acculturation as a process by which subjects acquire the attitudes, values, customs, beliefs, and behaviors of a different culture).
- Language barriers.
- The concern for family in the country of origin and the separation from them.
- The lack of information about the healthcare system.
- The loss of status.
- The loss of social networks.
Suicide attempts can be understood as the result of discrimination, negative experiences, and lack of opportunity.
Guide to recommendations for suicide prevention
A social perspective is crucial for understanding suicide as a form of social commentary, a way of drawing attention to existing social problems. Therefore, healthcare interventions must be accessible and have a transcultural dimension that avoids transgressions and violations of cultural norms, prevents diagnostic errors, and brings to light the underlying causes of distress.
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