Doing good or doing harm? The interrelations between migration, well-being, and mental health

This chapter explores the ways migration affects well-being and mental health and elaborates on the health outcomes of migration founded in the relations of biology, structure, and culture. An exposure to socio-economic and psychological stressors in destination countries can inform mental disorders among immigrant populations including higher rates of psychosis and common mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Navigating broader structures that undermine psychological well-being and mental health in destination countries, immigrants draw on culture that defines how individuals and communities relate to mental distress and shapes their help-seeking behaviors. This chapter argues that aspirations and hope are essential to well-being and positive mental health and provide immigrants with the motivation to work towards the realization of their potential and support positive thinking. Analytical attention to aspirations helps us to move beyond structural vulnerability frameworks that essentialize minority population groups and towards a better understanding of how immigrants cope, adapt and maintain well-being.