Giving immigrants some peace of mind
Moving to a new country can be difficult, as Henrique Lima can testify. The stress of adapting to a new culture, starting a new job – or not being able to find one – coupled with a longing for family and friends back home can take an immense mental toll, one that the Brazilian knows all too well after moving to Ireland some 18 months ago. But he was able to overcome his problems with the help of a Dublin-based mental health service organisation known as MyMind.
Henrique would say he had it all in Brazil by most people’s standards: a good paying job, a nice car, lots of close family and friends. But despite it all, ultimately he was not happy. Something was missing.
“I worked for 10 years at the same company,” he said. “And after 10 years at the same company working in administration I began to feel very sad. So I [decided that] I need to do something different with my life, I need to change, I need to learn a new language and I need to meet new people, so [I left] Brazil because of this.”
After communicating with people from different parts of the world via Facebook, Henrique decided that Ireland would be the perfect place to start a new life, but he would soon learn of the challenges that moving to a different country can pose.
“The first three months especially were very, very hard,” he said. “I didn’t know any English, and it is very hard to find a job as an immigrant. When you do find jobs it’s usually a kind of bad job like cleaning homes. And so my first impression about life here was that it was going to be a hard life.”
With little money and working menial jobs, Henrique was depressed and homesick. He was considering moving back to Brazil when a friend told him about a Brazilian psychologist named Brenda Pedrosa who worked at a place called MyMind.
Tired from the pressure
Pedrosa came to Ireland in 2011 to study English after working as a psychologist in Brazil for three years. She began to volunteer at MyMind after a friend told her about the organisation’s multicultural services. Working with Brazilian clients, she soon discovered that many were experiencing similar difficulties as Henrique.
“The problem for Brazilians is that the majority of us come to Ireland having good qualifications for jobs back home,” said Pedrosa. “But we end up working in pubs, or as cleaners, waiters, au pairs, and we get so tired from the pressure of not knowing the language well. Many times the Brazilians that come to MyMind have had issues before coming to Ireland and because of the stress they just get worse.”
MyMind was formed in 2006 when Polish immigrant and psychologist Krystian Fikert decided to do something about the lack of mental health services available in Ireland, particularly for those in the Polish community.
His not-for-profit organisation, which has a sliding fee scale based on a person’s work status, would quickly grow to a team of 45, with two locations in Dublin and one soon to be in Cork. MyMind now offers services in more than 10 languages, and Fikert hopes to increase that number in the future.
Available to everyone
“Our ultimate goal is to eventually be available to everyone,” said Fikert. “Right now we are looking at the possibility of starting MyMind in Brazil, China and Australia. My personal vision is to see MyMind everywhere.”
Fikert, like Pedrosa, has seen trends in the mental health problems plaguing many immigrants. He estimates that 40 per cent of MyMind’s clients are immigrants and that their numbers have risen dramatically since the start of the recession.
“We have a large number of clients presenting depression issues as a result of not being able to find work, along with relationship difficulties, like if they are breaking up with a partner in their country of origin,” he said. “Social anxiety is also a problem for immigrants who may think they are not good enough for the new society they are trying to become a part of. ”
Fikert added that MyMind has far more female immigrant clients than males, possibly due to many cultures having negative views on men seeking mental health services. This is coupled with what he describes as a dearth of male psychogists, and the notion that some men simply would never confide in a woman psychologist.
After his first visit to MyMind, Henrique began having regular sessions with Pedrosa and she was able to help him work through many of his problems.
“MyMind helped me to realise that I was scared about the new life and so scared to change myself,” he said. “I now have good friends who help me a lot and I have one good job, a good relationship, and I think everything will be fine. I want to have in Ireland a quiet, good life.”
