Racism and mental health and the role of mental health professionals

The concept of "race" and consequently of racism is not a recent phenomenon, although it had profound effects on the lives of populations over the last several hundred years. Using slaves and indentured labor from racial groups designated to be "the others," who was seen as inferior and thus did not deserve privileges, and who were often deprived of the right to life and basic needs as well as freedoms. Thus, creation of "the other" on the basis of physical characteristics and dehumanizing them became more prominent. Racism is significantly related to poor health, including mental health. The impact of racism in psychiatric research and clinical practice is not sufficiently investigated. Findings clearly show that the concept of "race" is genetically incorrect. Therefore, the implicit racism that underlies many established "scientific" paradigms need be changed. Furthermore, to overcome the internalized, interpersonal, and institutional racism, the impact of racism on health and on mental health must be an integral part of educational curricula, from undergraduate levels through continuing professional development, clinical work, and research. In awareness of the consequences of racism at all levels (micro, meso, and macro), recommendations for clinicians, policymakers, and researchers are worked out.

Mental health of Turkish women in Germany: resilience and risk factors

BACKGROUND

The purpose of the present study was to examine the protective and risk factors of mental distress among Turkish women living in Germany.

METHOD

105 Turkish immigrant women living in Berlin were investigated with measures of extraversion/neuroticism (NEO-FFI), general self-efficacy (GSE), social support (BSSS), social strain (F-SOZU) and mental distress (GHQ-28). Interrelations between psychosocial variables were assessed using simple Pearson correlations.

RESULTS

In all subjects, social strain (Pearson's r=.26(**), p=.008) and neuroticism (r=.34(**), p<.001) were positively associated with mental distress. In contrast, perceived self-efficacy (r=-.38(**), p<.001) and extraversion (r=-.36(**), p<.001) were negatively associated with mental distress.

CONCLUSION

Protective factors such as extraversion and self-efficacy seem to have a buffering effect on the process of migration. However, in addition to neuroticism, social strain seems to be positively associated with mental distress.