N102475297

PUB209

Tutor: Dr Julie-Ann Carroll

 

Culturally Safe Health Care for Refugee Groups
 
 

Figure 1. Syrian child drawing

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-01-mental-health-young-syrian-refugees.html 

The cultural artefact is a drawing done by a 7-year-old Syrian child name Ahmad. When he was asked to draw a picture for a campaign, instead of drawing happy children playing or clear blue sky. He drew a picture of helicopters dropping bombs and children dying. If you notice the faces of the deceased ones in the drawing, they have smiles on their faces whereas the surviving children are crying. For Ahmad, pen and paper were the only tools to express his traumatic experience (M. Zaher Sahloul, 2018). According to the analysis report done by Masoumeh Farokhi and Masoud Hashem, children usually explore the world around them through intellectual, physical and emotional methods. Especially for young children; pencil, brush and paper are the best means of conveying their fondest hopes and most profound fears (Farokhi & Hashemi, 2011). In this case, Ahmad’s drawing shows his profound fear. Upon analyzing the artefact, we can observe that the child is still haunted and is traumatized by his past experiences which is affecting his mental health and can gradually worsen if appropriate help/aid is not given.

 

Refugees or asylum seekers must cope with the memories of previous experiences while dealing with a new and uncertain life in a foreign country. There are also high rates of mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression that can manifest in different forms and to varying degrees, especially in developing children (Reavell & Fazil, 2017). The biggest issue is that the mental illness remains taboo across the world, particularly in most of the third world countries like Syria, Myanmar or India. People who reside in those countries or communities are afraid to seek medical assistance for mental health in fear of being labelled as crazy or ‘Majnoon’ in Arabic because the hospitals are more like prison than a proper hospital (Sahloul, 2018). 

When we think of international aid, we picture food, vaccines and water, all for fundamental needs for a healthy society. However, mental health is often overlooked and sometimes it’s even perceived as a luxury good. Meaning you have all your basic needs satisfied therefore you have time to worry such things. This is obviously false belief they have (Banis, 2019). 

 

While working on the assessment piece for this unit, I’ve once again come to realize the importance of mental health and how it affects us all everywhere. However, because the topic is taboo in my culture (Myanmar) or community, we hardly talk or share such things within our community or in our daily life even with our loved ones. When I first saw the picture, I didn’t really notice the mutilated bodies had smiles on them until my sister pointed out to me. I was really shocked to see that little detail Ahmad had put in his drawing. 

When I was younger, I would always draw the things I hoped and wished for. But, Ahmad at such young age was drawing traumatic scenes meaning it must have impacted on him greatly. The drawing seems to portray dead looking more peaceful and happier than the living. If he doesn’t get a chance to get appropriate support and help, then his mental health will steadily and rapidly decline which can result in worsening mental health problems; unexplained aches and pains; chronic physical health problems; incarceration; victimization and trauma; and suicide (Young M.D, 2015). These can happen to anyone whose mental health is neglected even in this developed country with many facilities and services available. How much more can these affect to those who aren’t either aware or are afraid to seek help. 

My first few years in Australia, I was feeling out of place and unhappy with myself and everything. It was only when my high school guidance officer approached and talked to me, about ‘Depression’. I didn’t even know what depression was and was more depressed because I thought they will put me in mental asylum now. But thanks to my guidance officer constant visit and encouragement I was able to overcome and realize ‘I am not alone’. Now I know the importance of mental health and am continually learning its importance through work and study, not only for myself but also for my future career. I believe just like I received the appropriate aid and support, if refugees and asylum seekers are educated about the importance of mental health. We will surely be able to help reduce the possible outcomes, stigma and taboo on the mental health among refugees and asylum seeker.

 

Deadly Choices

I found it very informative to read about the health implications for the Indigenous and Torres Straight island community in Australia. Although like you have stated, there are many services provided to support the community financially, but the issue they face is emotional. We all are victims on the deadly choices of the past, with the many year of colonization, and emotional conditioning of these communities. From reading your article on 'Deadly choice', I can clearly see how the Australian community is continuously progressing. By mending the damages from the 'deadly choses' of the past, to 'deadly choices' of the future

How the Music Industry is Perpetuating and Normalizing Rape Culture

Hi Sophia, this was such a great review of how the music industry plays a part, in molding and forming the foundation of societies morals, beliefs and values. As you stated "Music is a universal language and there are infinite songs produced each year. Spotify and Apple Music are two of the main, streaming platforms used nowadays, with over 96 million and 56 million subscribers respectively". Something which holds so much power should surely be monitored and strictly used to set a good example, like you said especially for the youth. Really amazing and in-depth, I could not help but to think of the music we hear in this time and age. Your article perfectly reflects the world we are walking in to.

https://padlet.com/jucarroll21/healthculturesociety2019/wish/404034541 

Davide Banis. (2019). Mental Illness Is The Most Neglected Health Problem In The Developing World. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidebanis/2019/01/24/mental-illness-is-the-most-neglected-health-problem-in-the-developing-world/?fbclid=IwAR0U7Q_clwHkNk1SE5NXMFQsC32UPBx9NsU1IpS24U0cN6KKjn0-noXF4Wk#433f875a1db4 

James Reavell & Qulsom Fazil. (2017). The epidemiology of PTSD and depression in refugee minors who have resettled in developed countries. Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09638237.2016.1222065?casa_token=RRjjq9hetNcAAAAA%3AW5n_BH4YpAWdKsd8yOldkY6ihIOPIWrp0oxQc_HHEgcjeE2q83tkUt5ixE1DlRf-uhkpB8mHWoZC

Joel L. Young M.D. (2015). Untreated Mental Illness. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/when-your-adult-child-breaks-your-heart/201512/untreated-mental-illness

Masoumeh Farokhi & Masoud Hashemi. (2011). The Analysis of Children’s Drawings: Social, Emotional, Physical, and Psychological aspects. Retrieved from: https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com /277811/1-s2.0-S1877042811X0023X/1-s2.0-S1877042811022580/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjENr%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJGMEQCIDJNvGZwNCsZDPvopvQlFchYihV0xPqBVBifUS%2Bc%2FxwiAiBfq99EBJMtfFBvFVZAOzrkze5f2uH6CkT0tPt1Hbw5DCrZAgjj%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F8BEAIaDDA1OTAwMzU0Njg2NSIMf33fzgMqcqKzUmWsKq0COhwaNf5P0i%2BvIXoJ134%2FSUKixh29mMn58h%2BbHPkWJ7lbZq%2Bcei%2F8QrFXqjAtc97JJ2jUzhCc7gDS%2FyZzepZOK2xPSDFfnLiqaVDfOOa273R7goHqlWLR4k8MBVKuCxCcvl3xM0NtvSvO9ybhYtzNCFUTb3oztgplZ7lMBb9Df3CxhD6k6qGpWJ8QeG3sBh5DHp75dOgAfWe%2BGO%2BfY1eRB3RJvuU1ELtoKdZ%2F3jlmGsX6SskJlnWLIEGPBgLulukJ6xSg%2Bkm%2F4Y5JKm%2BCJMhZ6NJ9vLXrX%2FTbOKeDYdDkLp4hJi2%2B1LQRON5dq3bRP1y7Lc9q1B5Otg2jPlsdQOi0ej2Cf4EW7OVvgunwMMPZuVh8sd2yENuM62WWmvnct77MJEL2l0Uyr8u1wMAo9DCEpO7tBTrQAq4Qm%2FFJHG8vg2SMg8ESk%2BmS5VMwE16XkVqZGxKuTIQT5K%2F3jtcW88oA5S2Ao8fMfsKqAcFa9jPqaZKRlt1xjGmXztHaaqA5yr4bzU3%2Bzm%2BIrvkL%2Bg7ijkRLovtMMsGUYe6tYueDq2D8iHZlfLvq9lhQTBLPBc0cloNYU7UyExUG6g7mPTkC7TkGB9gKwzWxWJa9nQ9ipsRuODrK3edrjL7Gy8L%2FRkH46c4dS%2BKq%2BrofQo2SV4Hd3xp7zdon%2Frl6rfQLNteM3kUMfGSHup3E0JR0CtAC%2FjbkpFmC3%2B4SyTFoIrcZQeQ%2Baqxh38uoVnOSDfM8CJyi%2B9BEPszjkRIaHOCPQaTabARvkQ78fXegEQ%2FGqfkGYFUwYuKFzpkqQVb5BD9xziVuB6Me2jm6bG4ygpMuoKURZLg2UmpVqz10PIOiKOFQK%2Bj6BxvSJYVQumKhHA%3D%3D&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20191101T020649Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTYXCHQISPU%2F20191101%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=daa035b8d654567a685018dde541074fec3a1ce8caada75b8d50acf2a258ecb3&hash=af7db1cea79a3eea34428720bcea79b578ba0c3e8c95be0e5fd1414bee4d081b&host=68042c943591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&pii=S1877042811022580&tid=spdf-84b67e12-8356-4aed-900e-cfc5a8e8ee27&sid=5b3f4c264c1bb3486f4840646b88783bd890gxrqa&type=client 

M. Zaher Sahloul. (2018). Why ignoring mental health needs of young Syrian refugees could harm us all. Retrieved from: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-01-mental-health-young-syrian-refugees.html 

Rebecca Giallo1,2, Elisha Riggs1,3, Claire Lynch1, Dannielle Vanpraag1, Jane Yelland1,3, Josef Szwarc4, Philippa Duell-Piening4, Lauren Tyrell4, Sue Casey4, Stephanie Janne Brown1,2,3. (2017). The physical and mental health problems of refugee and migrant fathers: findings from an Australian population-based study of children and their families. Retrieved from: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/11/e015603

Sumaiyah Tasneem. (2016). Time to break the taboo – World Mental Health Day. Retrieved from: http://www.voismagazine.com.au/news/time-to-break-the-taboo-world-mental-health-day