Immigration Trauma, Substance Abuse, and Suicide

Abstract

Bianca is a 35-year-old, divorced Brazilian woman with a history of depression, anxiety, trauma, and substance abuse who has made several serious suicide attempts. Before three years ago, Bianca had no history of mood or anxiety symptoms. In fact, most of her recent psychiatric symptoms have occurred in the context of heavy substance use.Bianca was previously stable and gainfully employed as a legal secretary in the court system of Brazil. She functioned well until she came to the United States ten years ago looking for a better life. During the first seven years of her life as an illegal immigrant, Bianca struggled with the fear of deportation, issues of acculturation, and the lack of stable employment. Three years ago, Bianca married George, an American citizen, with the explicit purpose of obtaining legal immigration status. Despite the immigration ruse, Bianca hoped the marriage would work anyway. Before marrying,

Suicidal Ideation and Attempt among Immigrants in Europe: A Literature Review

“…Despite their interesting findings of the link between the three variables mentioned above, by no means were these findings generalizable. However, in line with the Zayas et al [15] study, a review on immigrants from the Indian subcontinent found that family conflicts are associated with suicide among Indian female immigrants [16]. A more generalizable study examined duration of residence (in the foreign country) as a predictor of suicidality among ethnic minority immigrants [17].…”

Altitude, Immigration and Suicide Rates: A Study from Turkey

“…Immigration, the change of residence by any means, may influence the mental health status of individuals as well 10. In the early stage, shortly after arriving in the new place, immigrants are faced with new difficulties.…”

A scoping review of the opioid epidemic among U.S. Immigrants: Implications for treatment practices

“…While adverse consequences from OUD are similar for immigrant and non-immigrant U.S. adults, contextual factors stemming from having marginalized identities and issues related to acculturation bring nuance and susceptibility for comorbid conditions for immigrants in particular (i.e., infectious diseases, psychiatric conditions, polysubstance use) (Bart, 2018;Epelbaum et al, 2010;Guarino et al, 2012;Guarino et al, 2015;Salas-Wright et al, 2018;). Alongside the differences in patterns and acceptability of drug use in the U.S., as compared to immigrant countries of origin, the additional stressors from migration (i.e., family separation, exposure to violence, poverty) may lead to psychiatric comorbid conditions (i.e., depression and anxiety) and/or poly-substance use as selfmedication among immigrants (Kagotho, Maleku, Baaklini, Karandikar, & Mengo, 2020).…”

“…Another issue related to treatment barriers was the role that having an undocumented status played in an individual's inability to access drug treatment services (Epelbaum, Taylor, & Dekleva, 2010). Being undocumented prohibits full-time employment and the health benefits that would accompany it.…”

“…Being undocumented prohibits full-time employment and the health benefits that would accompany it. Fuzhounese (Chinese) immigrants who were undocumented were six times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric conditions than those who were documented (Epelbaum et al, 2010). This phenomenon can include substance use disorder and a variety of co-occurring mental health conditions exacerbated by trauma.…”