No need to struggle with men­tal health problems alo­ne

Do you also feel that your mood is get­ting bet­ter when the spring sun starts to shi­ne in our city?

Men­tal health and mood especial­ly among us migrants has been an issue for some time alrea­dy.

The Mini­stry of Eco­no­mic Affairs and Emplo­y­ment of Fin­land repor­ted in 2015, that the need for help to deal with men­tal health problems among migrants wasn’t satis­fied suf­ficient­ly.

A stu­dy con­duc­ted by Esz­ter Kiss from Mie­li Wit­hout Bor­ders in 2021 shows that the­re is still much work to be done in this field. Especial­ly tho­se, who don’t speak Fin­nish or English are in the most vul­ne­rable posi­tion.

Especial­ly tho­se, who don’t speak Fin­nish or English are in the most vul­ne­rable posi­tion.

Main fac­tors that had effect on the men­tal health of migrants in the stu­dy by Esz­ter Kiss were lan­gua­ge bar­riers, lone­li­ness, iso­la­tion, and lack of sup­port network.

Lack of emplo­y­ment and stu­dy options and disc­ri­mi­na­tion were also on top of the list.

News from your old count­ry may also affect your men­tal health sig­ni­ficant­ly, because you can’t stop wor­rying about your rela­ti­ves and friends.

For newco­mers eve­ryt­hing is indeed new, and they can’t rely comple­te­ly on their own and their abi­li­ty to take care of all the things inde­pen­dent­ly wit­hout anyone’s help.

The inte­gra­tion process is dif­ficult and slow and to succeed I belie­ve that a per­son needs to see cons­tant­ly at least small achie­ve­ments by his own, to see that he or she is moving forward to his or her goal, to a dream job may­be.

Many local orga­ni­sa­tions offer help and sup­port

Inter­na­tio­nal House Joen­suu plays a very impor­tant role in hel­ping migrants in their eve­ry­day chal­len­ges.

It aims to not only help migrants, but also to teach them to be inde­pen­dent.

– Like my colleague’s client who with her help lear­ned to pay the bills him­self, though he doesn’t read or wri­te in any lan­gua­ge, tells Evge­ni Niuk­ka­nen, a migrant and a new inte­gra­tion advi­ser at Inter­na­tio­nal House Joen­suu

What we also need is just a warm smi­le and words of sup­port from ordi­na­ry people me meet

– As migrants we need such orga­ni­sa­tions. But what we also need is just a warm smi­le and words of sup­port from ordi­na­ry people we meet, just to feel, that we are welco­me and valued. It means a world to us, Niuk­ka­nen adds.