I am a woman & immigrant, here is my story

Starting a new life and moving abroad in a completely different time zone is not as easy as others imagine it to be. The psychological impact of moving to a faraway place in a different culture, with or without family is often very significant. I moved to the UK when I was 16 years old, people often ask me how. How did you manage? You were so young, yes! it was very difficult especially when you come from a culture where you grew up round many family members, friends, culture, religion etc but I always response its Gods strength and will brought me this far!

One of the hardest parts of relocating is undoubtedly having two feet in different countries and as much as most families and individuals would like to keep ties with their home country, there are emotional drawbacks to living your life in different countries at the same time. This can be difficult as you will be in between and affects your mental health, especially in reconciling the rules, environment and behaviours of two different countries.

Example: One of the difficulties I had and still have is understanding certain accents and slang, most immigrants already speak between 2-3 languages and learning English, being able to pronounce and express their mind comes across as offensive, bold, demanding and the language barrier is still a struggle to most people and may cause conflict due to lack of acknowledgement of the other person’s background.

Where I come from, I grew up not being able to speak up, respecting the elderly not expressing how I felt, lack of motivation, having low self-esteem, how to walk and talk as a woman, how to sit down as a lady, growing up in a church where they teach you how to be submissive, manners and respect and that may cause to most women to suppress their needs to wants and become shy.

Women face far more societal pressure, are more likely to be abused, and are ruminative not forget how women deal with hormonal shifts, and monthly cycles and still manage to continue with daily to daily routines and women are more genetically predisposed to depression. I have seen so many strong single mums out there raising children in a lone household with no family or friend support, raising their children been a mother and a father; despite how unwell they feel, they still get up every morning to take care of her children. When she feels emotionally drained she holds her emotional and smiles through pain. I can imagine how being an immigrant mother can confuse her as she tries to teach her children who they are.

Being a woman is very challenging and despite the pain, we continue to smile.

A safe environment, a social club for women can help them to tackle isolation, loneliness, anxiety while sharing their experiences and feel accepted, involved, not feeling alone and heard. There are so many women out there who also suffer from depression that may be caused by religion or culture; by holding in, keep on going without the right or chance to speak their minds.

I read once the best medicine is laughter and it is good for heart health.

If a women’s day becomes one day where every gender gets to gather and go out for activities can minimise isolation and benefit mental health.

‘’Our homes are not defined by geography or one particular location, but by memories, events, people, and places that span the globe’’. – Marilyn Gardner

Author: Sara (Mental Health Keyworker)