Migrant workers face several psychological problems that start from leaving their home country and in their destination countries in addition to experiencing diverse challenges that make them more vulnerable to the development of psychological problems, according to a latest study.
"Different factors, such as incidents occurring abroad, after coming back to home, and social perception towards returnees contributed to the development of diverse psychological problems," says the study conducted by BRAC and released on Wednesday.
After coming back from abroad, returnees experienced different incidents like financial crisis, relationship conflict with family members, separation and divorce, mentions the study titled, "Measuring the Effectiveness of Psycho-social Counseling Services on the Lives of Returned Migrant Workers: An assessment."
This study was led by Prof Kamal Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Dhaka and Director of Nasirullah Psychotherapy Unit.
The research has been done under the "Reintegration of Migrant Workers in Bangladesh" project with the help of Switzerland.
"We have talked to expatriates and seen that migrants suffer from mental crises due to specific reasons such as loneliness, physical and mental abuse, loss of job, not getting a proper salary. But like everyone else in Bangladesh, expatriates do not give importance to mental health," he said.
He went on saying, "But we have seen people who have taken or received counseling services become more confident quickly. Especially women who have recovered faster than men."
For reintegration of migrants, BRAC Migration Programme has been providing immediate assistance, psychosocial, social and economic reintegration support.
Other Major findings including different factors, such as incidents occurring abroad, after coming back to home, and social perception towards returnees contributed to the development of diverse psychological problems.
There was a significant impact of Psychological Support Services (PSS) on the lives of returnees in reducing the severity level of the psychological problems they encountered. In addition, it was found that women participants responded better after receiving psychosocial support compared to their male counterparts.
The common but frequent psychological reactions for returnees are- annoyed, helplessness, trauma, suicidal behavior, sleep disturbance, anger, feeling shattered, sad mood, mind blanking, mental stress, hopelessness, worry, guilt feeling, emotion dysregulation, fear of negative comments and mistrusting people.
The returnees were able to develop coping mechanisms to deal with their psychological reactions. It includes distraction through self-talk, neglecting negative comments, relying on life-partners, following religious rituals, being active in daily chores, focusing on comments by family, accepting the barriers and not recalling painful memories.
There is absent or inadequate resources/setup for providing counseling services locally. Moreover, Inadequate MH professionals and insufficient MH research in Bangladesh particularly on returnee/migrant workers mental health were found as one of barriers to execute PSS activities.
The application WHO-5 well-being index scale for pre- and post-psychosocial intervention is recommended.
Major Recommendations:
Advocacy for mental health support for migrant workers needs to be initiated from the destination countries.
Instill psychosocial support services (PSS) for returnee migrant workers and trafficking survivors in reintegration policy of the government.
Sharing mental health (MH) models with other relevant departments of BRAC and stakeholders.
Embedding mental health in a strategic plan not only for returnee migrants, but for all community members who are at risk of developing mental health problems.
Recruit trained mental health professionals rather than fresh graduates. Fresh graduates can be recruited if trained professionals are not available.
Continuation of assessment and evaluation against care-providers' skills and demand, and organising training based on the assessment and evaluation reports.
Continuation of Clinical Supervision for both groups and individual counsellors. That will prevent counsellors from burning out issues and ensure continuous professional development.
Awareness programme directed at changing social perception against the returnees, especially women returnees.
