“No matter how integrating I am, I will never be Danish, I will always be different and that is true because I no longer feel that it is neither from here nor from there‘, a patient told me through tears. His suffering spoke of the suffering of identity and status as a result of the uprooting that migration brings.
The economic crisis has prompted many young people to emigrate in search of a better future. Siren songs from shows like Spaniards around the world They make them embark on an adventure, ignoring Ulysses’ advice, without a life jacket. For this reason, there are those who have to return when their emotional stability is broken. And once they reach the Promised Land, not everyone emotionally survives the process. Not all people have the resources to emigrate: you have to be brave, stubborn, resilient and resilient. One of the first things to know about immigration is that not everyone can do this while maintaining their mental health.
Those who succeed go through an adaptation phase in which they hone the culture of the host country, and put their place of origin into question. Suddenly everything in Spanish became nasty and almost embarrassing. This defense mechanism helps us escape from the ones we love. makes sense. Otherwise, how can one make such a resignation? It seems that while they are learning English, German, etc., they enter civilization and leave Spain and its barbarism. In this state, which psychologists call adaptive dissociation, they can survive for years. It’s like they’re on autopilot. Lazy, oblivious to all that they have lost.
With hard work come rewards and those who left reach their goals, find a qualified job in the host country, receive unimaginable punishment for their counterparts in Spain, speak the language and integrate socially. They should be happy with everything they have achieved but often find that they are not. Your discomfort may manifest as sadness, anxiety, or some other physical symptom. They begin to realize all that they have lost along the way, think about the quality of life, feel homesick for a family meal on Sundays, and do things they had done in Spain that would have sounded like cañí, like listening to flamenco or putting a football team sticker on your car.
They realize that no matter how well adapted they are, they will always be aliens, and they will never belong to that house they built. The consequences of what we call in psychology the grief of emigration appear, which is nothing more than the acceptance of what was lost upon emigration.
Detailing the immigration duel is not easy, which is why many decide to return.
Celia Arroyo’s photo She is a psychiatrist.