Hope Across Borders: Navigating Immigration, Acculturation, and Assimilation to Prevent Suicide

When you make a new country your home, you're changing almost everything about your life from your national identity to the culture you experience daily. The challenges and stresses of navigating immigration and assimilation can affect your mental health and might even increase your risk of suicidal thoughts.

Immigrating to a new country opens a new world where you can grow and experience new things. However, it can also bring feelings of isolation and stress, leading to doubts about your own identity. While challenges exist, you can use a balanced and compassionate approach to build resilience and find a sense of belonging. 

The Mental Health Impact of Navigating Immigration and Assimilation

The world is busy, and over 250 million people immigrate from one country to another yearly. These cultural changes and the challenge of fitting into a new dynamic can affect their mental health.

How Immigration Affects Mental Health

Navigating immigration and assimilation can bring many changes in a short amount of time. Fitting into a new culture can build feelings of disconnection, stress, and uncertainty. These feelings can be amplified when there are language barriers and financial struggles. They can make daily life feel like a constant fight for survival. You may experience loneliness and grief due to losing your familiar community and traditions.

Assimilating and Maintaining Your Cultural Identity: Finding Balance

When a person assimilates into a new culture, they undergo a process of adopting it. Sometimes, this can leave the immigrant feeling like they've lost their roots and links to their old culture. You must find a balance that honors both the new culture and your personal and cultural identity. 

Resilience in the Face of Change

You can preserve your culture and its origins by maintaining a connection to it, such as through holiday traditions or the way you greet friends. At the same time, you can embrace new aspects of the new culture. This helps with your personal growth and strengthens your sense of belonging. Growing and thriving requires your identity to be fluid, and although it may take time, you will eventually find your place.

Recognizing Risk Factors and Warning Signs

If you or someone you love faces mental health struggles while navigating immigration and assimilation, there are risk factors and warning signs to recognize.

When Immigration-Related Stress Contributes to Suicide Risk

Language barriers and culture shock can lead to immigrants feeling like outsiders and create social isolation. Over time, this can lead to a sense of hopelessness. Navigating immigration and assimilation might involve discrimination, racism, or fear of deportation. All of these things may increase your mental health struggles. The stigma surrounding mental health struggles from your former culture can also prevent you from seeking the mental health care you need and increase the risk of suicide. 

How to Address These Challenges

If cultural barriers exist, you want to normalize seeking mental health support. You can begin by encouraging conversations about mental health support and the benefits that immigrant families and communities can experience. Within the community, organizations can help offer culturally sensitive support, such as access to mental health services or support programs for individual immigrants. 

4 Ways to Strengthen Mental Well-Being During and After Immigration

1. Build Support Networks in Both Old and New Communities

Try to maintain your existing support groups while navigating immigration and assimilation. This includes maintaining your relationships with family and friends in your home country. Local cultural groups, immigrant organizations, and faith-based communities also provide great resources and can serve as a support system when you connect with them.

2. Find Culturally Competent Mental Health Resources

When looking for a counselor or a therapist, try to identify ones who understand immigration experiences. It's easier for them to understand your struggles with mental health. You can also look for support groups and helplines that are bilingual or culturally specific. They can help you feel more comfortable talking about your struggles. 

3. Embrace Personal and Cultural Identity

When navigating immigration and assimilation, you must remember to celebrate the traditions, heritage, and language that you already know. Find activities where you can connect both of your cultures. Bilingual storytelling and fusion cooking are positive ways to do this. 

4. Know When and Where to Seek Professional Help

Stress, anxiety, and depression can become overwhelming. When this happens, you can contact a professional for help processing your feelings and regaining your balance. You can turn to community resources, crisis hotlines, or immigrant support services for help finding a professional to work with. 

Fostering Inclusive and Supportive Communities for Immigrants

Navigating immigration and assimilation can also involve building a community that includes and supports immigrants from all countries. Here are a few tips:

Encouraging Acceptance and Understanding

You can make a difference for immigrants by educating others in your community and friend group about the obstacles immigrants face. Encouraging inclusive policies and community programs is one way to support an immigrant's mental health.

Combining Cultural Strength With Professional Support

Immigrants need to know that honoring their culture while navigating immigration and assimilation, and seeking mental health care, is possible. These two aspects can coexist. You can advocate for culturally inclusive mental health services in the workplace, faith communities, and schools with immigrant populations.

Creating a Message of Hope and Connection

You can be the hope and connection that an immigrant needs. Be supportive and remind them they're not on the journey alone. When immigrants find their sense of belonging and well-being, it becomes easier for them to acclimate to their new home country and its culture.

Supporting Someone Who May Be Struggling

You can provide support to immigrants facing mental health challenges while navigating immigration and assimilation. Here are a few ways to support them:

How to Offer Support With Compassion

Whenever you speak with an immigrant, try to approach the conversation with empathy and compassion. Keep in mind that cultural differences can create a barrier. Validate their feelings and refrain from dismissing their struggles. Avoid saying phrases such as 'Why aren't you grateful to be here?'

Encouraging Both Cultural and Professional Support

Sometimes, it helps to connect an immigrant to someone who shares their background and has already acclimated. They may feel more open to sharing their experience, fears, and progress. When helping an immigrant find a mental health professional, look for resources that match their cultural needs. 

What Not to Say or Do

Every person is different and adjusts on their timeline. Avoid pressuring someone to assimilate faster than they are ready for or feel comfortable with. Never tell someone to 'just fit in,' as it can add stress and invalidate their personal experiences.

Find a New Beginning in Your New Home Country

Navigating immigration and assimilation can present many challenges. However, hope and compassion can ease your stress and build a sense of hope and acceptance. If you're part of a community welcoming immigrants, practice inclusion and acceptance, and provide help to individuals struggling with their mental health. No one ever has to go it alone in a new country; when you reach out for support, you find help, connection, and healing.