Immigrant students’ perspectives on mental health

By Veronica Mina

York Suburban High School senior Angelina and her family immigrated to the United States in 2021 from the Dominican Republic. 

They came to the U.S. because of her father’s work situation. He quit his job before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. He couldn’t find another job there, but he found one in the U.S. at the end of 2020. Soon enough, Angelina’s mom decided to take Angelina and her sister to the U.S. to reunite the family.

As she settled in, Angelina started to notice differences in how mental health was perceived in the U.S. compared to her home country.

In the Dominican Republic, she says there is a fear of what other people will think if you get help for your mental health. 

“Especially if people know about it, they would just judge you, not help you or try to understand.”

She explains how this fear of judgment affects men.

“Even if they know they have a problem, and they should go and seek professional help, they wouldn’t because they see that as being weak. They have this stereotype that men shouldn’t feel emotional, and going to a therapist is going to prove that idea wrong.”

The United Nations reports that about one in four people around the world suffer from a mental health condition, but this stigma stops many of them from getting help. On top of that, there’s also an estimated treatment gap of ninety percent in some countries.

Another York Suburban student, Kateshia, immigrated to the United States from Ghana. 

Kateshia’s uncle was the first one to come to the U.S. in 2002. After he got settled, he sent for his parents and all his siblings. But Kateshia’s mom couldn’t immigrate with her dad since they weren’t married. Kateisha stayed in Ghana with her mom until she was six. She’s been living here with her dad and stepmom ever since.

Kateshia says mental health isn’t really treated in Ghana.

“People don’t really consider depression and stuff. They just think, ‘Oh you did this to yourself, so you’re gonna figure it out yourself.’ In Ghana, there’s no such thing as therapy.”

While there is therapy in Ghana, Kateshia is right that it’s limited. The country doesn’t have many mental health workers. According to the World Health Organization, Ghana has 39 total psychiatrists and over 2 million people who need mental health care.

She comments on how the lack of mental health professionals affected her school experience.

“When I was there I used to see kids that would be really stressed out. Sometimes the teachers don’t care, principal, none, even your parents, they don’t really care. You just figure stuff out yourself and if you can’t do it, you just struggle.”

Angelina had a similar experience in school in the Dominican Republic. She explained how her school had school psychologists, but they didn’t really help students.

“People wouldn’t really trust them with their personal problems.” 

She thinks schools in the U.S. do more to help students who are struggling with their mental health.  

“I feel like I can get educated like I should be getting educated about it. Especially because we have classes about mental health, psychology, and we also receive help from, for example, the therapist is here in the school. They don’t ignore it, because it is a problem. It might not be a physical disease like anemia, but it’s still a problem. They do address it and they do talk about it, and they offer you help.”

Today, groups like the World Health Organization are making it known that mental health is a fundamental human right. They’ve designated funding to help low- to middle-income countries improve their mental health services. Since Kateshia immigrated, Ghana has even joined the World Health Organization’s Special Initiative for Mental Health. The goal is to expand access to mental health care for over 5 million people.

Meanwhile, Kateshia says her parents have learned more about mental health since immigrating. 

“When they came over here, they started to learn more about depression and how it affects kids more than adults. So they talk to us like ‘Oh, if you need something, just talk to us’ because they know what it’s like. When they were in Africa, their parents never really asked them about being depressed because they don’t really consider that as a thing.”

Angelina says that when they lived in the Dominican Republic, her family never really talked about mental health either. But that’s different now.

“I think our perception of mental health definitely changed for the better when we moved here to  U.S. because my mom’s perception became more open. She will care more about, not just hers, but also mine and my sister’s.”

I’m Veronica Mina, Trojan News.