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Australia is a land of migrants however there are so few that open up about their mental health journey.
I arrived in Adelaide, Australia in 2015 and the toll of migration on my mental health was immense it left me so empty and put me on a journey to be my most authentic self all at the same time..
Statistics indicate 20% of all migrants experience depression you are certainly not alone and always remember this is the reported number. We know stigma prevents migrants to report their conditions and which would indicate the actual number to be higher.
It's a grief like no other perhaps people feel guilty talking about it as it was somewhat an informed decision. But that doesn't discount that you never know the "full impact" of it.
Grief and Loss like no other, you lose all sense of familiarity from friends to shop vendors.
From foods to laneways everything is new, while there's an initial adrenaline rush it's soon followed by an overwhelming way of feelings like you not belong anywhere.
Soon the family and friends back home grow with different experience and you feel even more isolated because now there's no one truly understanding the hardships you are facing.
If you are a young adult like me, friends are your support system. I can't put it in words what loss of friendships felt for me. Most Australians don't expand outside their high school friends.
If you see a migrant on a video call i hope you can find empathy for all they want to do is share a little bit of their experience with family/friends back home. I remember capturing every new experience and showing a slide show on my trips back home.
Young men often cope a pointier end of sword with expectation to provide for family back home or even sustain themselves in a foreign country by doing odd jobs.
So many migrant men including the men in my life partner, friends and brothers come overseas not knowing their rights and don't ask for even lifting aids because of they fear the loss of a job over health.
Visa abuse and below minimum wage is common for young arrival migrants but men cope it from both ends often.
Having never learnt emotional regulation a lot of them develop an alcohol reliance and end up suppressing symptoms of depression.
As we enter "Mental health Month" It's more than a poster hanging near you or a social media scroll . Putting up a story on Instagram isn't going to be enough.
Depression has the potential to take over your life and in some cases convince you to take life.
It took me 3 counsellors before I found someone who got me and helped me survive this journey, asking for help makes you human. The Stigma that stops you is powerless once you start to question it.
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