Mozdalifa Elkheir: “Psychological intervention must be done at different levels in order to provide immigrants with helpful psychological resources”
Mozdalifa Elkheir (1972, Sudan) is professor in the Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Education at the University of Kordofan (Sudan) and in the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Barcelona, where she participates in the postgraduate programme in Mental Health and Psychological Intervention with Immigrants, the Socially Excluded and Minorities.
She has just published her PhD thesis Síndrome dʼUlisses, aculturació i personalitat en una població dʼimmigrants àrabs. It describes a study carried out with three hundred people and concludes that nearly a quarter part of immigrants from Arab countries in Catalonia suffer the immigrant syndrome with chronic and multiple stress, named the Ulysses Syndrome.
Mozdalifa Elkheir (1972, Sudan) is professor in the Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Education at the University of Kordofan (Sudan) and in the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Barcelona, where she participates in the postgraduate programme in Mental Health and Psychological Intervention with Immigrants, the Socially Excluded and Minorities.
She has just published her PhD thesis Síndrome dʼUlisses, aculturació i personalitat en una població dʼimmigrants àrabs. It describes a study carried out with three hundred people and concludes that nearly a quarter part of immigrants from Arab countries in Catalonia suffer the immigrant syndrome with chronic and multiple stress, named the Ulysses Syndrome.
What is the Ulysses Syndrome?
The Ulysses Syndrome refers to an acute stress reaction that affects those immigrants who cannot manage the extreme migratory mourning they are experiencing. From the psychological perspective, immigration is considered an event that, like any other change, involves stress and loss —migratory mourning— to a great or less extent depending on each migratory process. However, when this psychological phenomenon occurs in the current context of economic crisis, which has brought painful adversities for immigrant people, immigration turns into a process that involves intense levels of stress that surpass the capacity of adaptation of the human being, and increases the difficulties of preparation of the migratory mourning.
This is the negative aspect about immigration described by the Ulysses Syndrome, a term proposed by Joseba Achotegui in 2002. The name of the syndrome refers to the Greek hero depicted by Homerʼs poem, the Odyssey. This epic tale describes Ulyssesʼ struggles as he tries to return home after the war.
The study you carried out with a sample composed by three hundred immigrants from Arab countries who live in Catalonia concludes that a fourth part of them suffer the syndrome. How can we help these people to overcome fear?
Immigrants are usually isolated people. However, establishing relations and contact with the society receptor provides them with more resources to overcome their problems. An example is the work developed by non-governmental organizations. Psychosocial support, particularly in familial aspects, protects them against the stressors they must face. Learning how to relax and sleep well is other helpful resource for them. In addition, within the process of learning to accept the new reality, it is necessary to try to look for the positive side of the situation. It is indispensable to learn how to avoid repetitive negative thoughts, to think with more optimism. Therefore, psychological intervention must be done at different levels in order to provide immigrants with some helpful psychological resources.
Moreover, the study underlines that, in the case of Arab immigration, there are additional problems related to xenophobia, racism and increasing islamophobia. What are their consequences?
Many studies have proved that religion is a protecting factor against difficulties and religious beliefs have beneficial health effects. Therefore, religion can be a useful element to develop successful coping strategies. Nevertheless, it can also be a risk factor in the case of the Islam because many Muslim Arab immigrants suffer discrimination due to islamophobia. This attitude has increased in Spain since the terrorist attacks that took place on 11 March 2004 in Madrid. In addition, recent actions of the Islamic State have also increased the distance between Western and Arab societies, as well as produced a repulsion of Muslims, as the report of the European Union Military Committee (EUMC, 2006) indicates. If we also consider current economic situation, the immigrants of Arab origin are the collective that most have suffered the economic crisis if we compare them with autochthonous people and immigrants from other origin countries. They are less successful in social and economic affairs than the rest of immigrants. This places them in the lowest scale of the Spanish society.
As lecturer of the postgraduate programme in Mental Health and Psychological Intervention with Immigrants, the Socially Excluded and Minorities of the UB, you have studied these questions for years. You know at first hand the specific characteristics of Arab people. Has Sudan nationality facilitated your research works?
This is the first study on the Ulysses Syndrome developed with Arab populations without meditators. All materials (evaluation tools, interviews and questionnaires) were in Arab. Belonging to the same culture facilitates things so much, particularly with those people who are in an irregular situation: it played a key role in calming and assuring them that I did not work for the police, but I also had to make them understand that I was not able to help them solving their irregular situation.
Do they receive psychological support? Who is in charge of this task?
Most of them do not receive any kind of help: they are invisible. According to the law, they do not exist, so they do not receive any kind of help. In addition, we must also consider the consequences of not knowing the language spoken in the host country. That causes communication failure among immigrants and the society receptor and it increases loneliness and isolation.
On the contrary, most of them have strong relations with the endo-group, in other words, immigrant people from their origin country or a different one and friends who are also suffering the consequences of the economic crisis.
What must public institutions do to improve the situation of immigrants?
Definitely, they must improve to a great extent the current programme of prevention and social intervention. We are at risk of turning the migrant experience into a disease.