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Migration and mental health

migrant psychology

How to migrate and stay Sane?


While migration is scaping from disastrous and difficult situations towards a better life and a more hopeful future, it can also include jeopardising migrants’ mental health. It might include a person deciding to move for various reasons like studying, finding a better job, improving their future, keeping away from political and strict mistreatment or marrying. It can be because of pure necessity or economic and aspirational factors. Not all migrants face the same situations and experience the same difficulties. Still, in the end, migration can be a life-changing experience which leads to temporary or permanent changes in an individual’s mental state. For further details visit Melbourne Psychologist www.jposullivan.com.au 

Migration is a series of events before, during and after it happens during a prolonged period in one’s life. The settlement and adjustment depend on one’s character, explanations behind the movement and how the new community will welcome and accept the migrants and let them be part of that society. Interestingly, other factors affecting this process are the similarity and familiarity of the destination language with that of the migrants, the distance, age and gender, educational level and occupational background and family and household status. The longer the distance, the more culture shock and differences can occur. The stressors can come from internal and external sources, but in the end, the individual responses to the stressor determine the likelihood of survival from mental illness. This is the perfect example of when a psychologist can help. Resilience and coping mechanisms after migration can be different for every individual. Not everyone is exposed to the same stresses, and not everyone goes through the mental problem path. Being prepared for migration and premigration levels, social support, and social cohesion can be practical factors in resilience. Personal pre-problems such as low self-esteem and previous insecure attachment can contribute to a bad mental state. Religious rituals and faith can play a significant role for some groups. Fluency in the language and acculturation plus the sense of place and social meaning can help migrants to be able to stay away from any mental problems. Migrants who require a psychotherapist in Melbourne should visit Julian O’Sullivan in Melbourne.

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Parent’s depression and the effect of that on young children

depression parents psychologist now


Recent researches show that parents with depression provide poorer care for their children. Depression can affect various parts of children’s personalities. Insecure attachment and challenging temperament, pessimistic views, very unpredictable mood swings and aggression, less happiness, poorer academic, intellectual and cognitive results, negative self-view and lower self-worth, dysfunctioned interpersonal communication and less ability to regulate intense feelings of anger, anxiety and stress. Parent’s depression which is associated with other risk factors such as genetic effects of depression, distressing conditions pre and postnatal, and how depression affects the parent’s function, can contribute to the adverse children’s upbringing. Being skilful in parenting is critical for the healthy growth of kids. Depression can contribute to insensitive, irresponsive, withdrawn parental behaviour, leading to a poor adjustment in children. Depression’s effect on children starts well before they are born since they affect the mother’s behaviours during pregnancy. More alcohol consumption, smoking during pregnancy, poor nutrition intake, unhealthy eating, and inadequate sleep are consequences of depression during pregnancy. Although sensitive and responsive parenting is the weak point of depressed parents in caring for infants, a lack of “felt security” can adversely affect a toddler’s healthy development. Inability to do key tasks, lack of self-regulation, outrageous behaviours and uncontrollable anger, inconsistent mother and child behaviour, and negative interactive characters over a long time are all long-term consequences of depressive parenting. In teenagers, mothers with depression show more disengaged and withdrawn and intrusive behaviours. In most cases, depressed parenting is associated with more risk factors that each one of them can play an independent role in parents’ and children’s depression. Interestingly, newborns’ neurobehavioural outcome of a depressed mother shows more inconsolable traits and a more difficult temperament. These two issues are notable as previously, they were considered as being affected exclusively through genetics and irrelevant to parenting behaviours.

Source:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK215128/