IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i2p1224-d1030729.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Kurdish Refugee Beliefs about Mental Health and Help-Seeking: A Community-Engaged Research Study in Tennessee

Author

Listed:
  • Leah S. Branam

    (Department of Human and Organizational Development, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, 230 Appleton Pl, Nashville, TN 37203, USA
    School of Nursing, Vanderbilt University, 461 21st Ave S, Nashville, TN 37240, USA)

  • Ismail Yigit

    (Department of Sociology, Tennessee State University, 3500 John A Merritt Blvd, Nashville, TN 37209, USA)

  • Sipal Haji

    (Catholic Charities, Diocese of Nashville, 2806 McGavock Pk, Nashville, TN 37214, USA)

  • Jennifer Clark

    (Catholic Charities, Diocese of Nashville, 2806 McGavock Pk, Nashville, TN 37214, USA)

  • Jessica M. Perkins

    (Department of Human and Organizational Development, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, 230 Appleton Pl, Nashville, TN 37203, USA)

Abstract

Refugee populations exhibit high rates of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and psychological distress, but are less likely to receive care than the general population. Perceptions among the Kurdish refugee community about causes and consequences of mental illness symptoms and perceived barriers to help-seeking are understudied. This community-engaged research study conducted in-depth interviews with Kurdish refugees from Iraq to explore their beliefs about drivers of mental illness and seeking help for mental health. Iterative thematic analysis of transcripts from ten participants indicated four key themes: (1) social network loss due to resettlement causes poor mental health; (2) socioeconomic status loss due to unrecognized professional qualifications puts strain on mental health; (3) social stigma about mental health and fears about disclosure of mental health issues within community and subsequent negative gossip prevent help-seeking; and (4) social interaction may alleviate mental illness symptoms. Overall, Kurdish refugees perceived social factors as major drivers of mental illness symptoms and barriers to help-seeking in their community. However, while participants believed that the general community attitude was against help-seeking, most participants personally expressed support of anyone in their community needing to see a mental health professional. Future research should assess the extent to which perceived community norms differ from aggregated personal help-seeking attitudes and behaviors among Kurdish refugees from Iraq in the United States.

Suggested Citation

  • Leah S. Branam & Ismail Yigit & Sipal Haji & Jennifer Clark & Jessica M. Perkins, 2023. "Kurdish Refugee Beliefs about Mental Health and Help-Seeking: A Community-Engaged Research Study in Tennessee," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-12, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:2:p:1224-:d:1030729
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/1224/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/1224/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Watters, Charles, 2001. "Emerging paradigms in the mental health care of refugees," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(11), pages 1709-1718, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Scott, Penelope, 2014. "Black African asylum seekers’ experiences of health care access in an eastern German state," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(3), pages 134-147.
    2. Carl Stempel & Nilofar Sami & Patrick Marius Koga & Qais Alemi & Valerie Smith & Aida Shirazi, 2016. "Gendered Sources of Distress and Resilience among Afghan Refugees in Northern California: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-22, December.
    3. O'Donnell, Alexander W. & Stuart, Jaimee & O'Donnell, Karlee J., 2020. "The long-term financial and psychological resettlement outcomes of pre-migration trauma and post-settlement difficulties in resettled refugees," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    4. Hadi Farahani & Natalie Joubert & Janet Carter Anand & Timo Toikko & Mohamad Tavakol, 2021. "A Systematic Review of the Protective and Risk Factors Influencing the Mental Health of Forced Migrants: Implications for Sustainable Intercultural Mental Health Practice," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-25, September.
    5. Michael Savic & Anna Chur-Hansen & Mohammad Afzal Mahmood & Vivienne M Moore, 2016. "‘We don’t have to go and see a special person to solve this problem’: Trauma, mental health beliefs and processes for addressing ‘mental health issues’ among Sudanese refugees in Australia," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 62(1), pages 76-83, February.
    6. Parkinson, Sarah E. & Behrouzan, Orkideh, 2015. "Negotiating health and life: Syrian refugees and the politics of access in Lebanon," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 324-331.
    7. Laura Smith & Ha Hoang & Tamara Reynish & Kim McLeod & Chona Hannah & Stuart Auckland & Shameran Slewa-Younan & Jonathan Mond, 2020. "Factors Shaping the Lived Experience of Resettlement for Former Refugees in Regional Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-18, January.
    8. Coffey, Guy J. & Kaplan, Ida & Sampson, Robyn C. & Tucci, Maria Montagna, 2010. "The meaning and mental health consequences of long-term immigration detention for people seeking asylum," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 2070-2079, June.
    9. Hinton, Devon E. & Rasmussen, Andrew & Nou, Leakhena & Pollack, Mark H. & Good, Mary-Jo, 2009. "Anger, PTSD, and the nuclear family: A study of Cambodian refugees," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1387-1394, November.
    10. Ruth Abraham & Lars Lien & Ingrid Hanssen, 2018. "Coping, resilience and posttraumatic growth among Eritrean female refugees living in Norwegian asylum reception centres: A qualitative study," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 64(4), pages 359-366, June.
    11. Um, Mee Young & Chi, Iris & Kim, Hee Jin & Palinkas, Lawrence A. & Kim, Jae Yop, 2015. "Correlates of depressive symptoms among North Korean refugees adapting to South Korean society: The moderating role of perceived discrimination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 107-113.
    12. Henriëtte E. van Heemstra & Willem F. Scholte & Angela Nickerson & Paul A. Boelen, 2021. "Can Circumstances Be Softened? Self-Efficacy, Post-Migratory Stressors, and Mental Health among Refugees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-9, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:2:p:1224-:d:1030729. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.