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.