Have you recently lost your home or had to move out of the country? If so, this blog is for you. It is also for anyone that you may come in contact with. Refugees are seeking asylum (safety) in countries that are foreign to them. The stress, depression and PTSD that can come from the situational stress of moving to unknown areas can be devastating. Just as tragedy brings about sadness, it can also bring about beauty and new beginnings.
This blog provides some of what science shares about refugees and depression, personal and professional experiences and if you stay to the end I share about a program I’m proud about.
#1 Way: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏🌎💜 Know what depression looks like for refugees
⠀
According to this article by the Kansas Journal of Medicine, In the Karenni refugees along the Burmese-Thai border, depression and anxiety rates (41% and 42%, respectively) were higher than the average rates of depression and anxiety among the general US population (7% and 10%, respectively).⠀⠀
⠀
What that means is the Karenni refugees have WAY more diagnosed depression than average rates of depression and anxiety in the USA. Furthermore, the article states the symptoms of these refugees is linked to traumatic events of violence similar to that of Veterans and sexual assault victims, and a lack of familiar support systems. ⠀
⠀
For me personally, I worked with a very kind patient in the psych hospital that was a refugee from Africa. We’ll call her “Kaylani” Kaylani opened up about her experiences because I built rapport with her. She shared what the process was like getting to come to America and how grateful she was to be here. ⠀
⠀
She was studying to become a nurse during her free time of healing from her hospitalization. Kaylani wasn’t addicted to drugs and alcohol like many people assumed my patients were. She was a sweet, kind adult that suffered extreme loss and pain. ⠀
⠀
Kaylani speaks 4 languages and when she’s done with her schooling will be an excellent medical practitioner that I’d trust with my life. Heck it was 3 years ago so she’s probably nursing somewhere right now taking care of I’ll people during the pandemic!Never assume refugees are incapable of greatness. I’m so honored to have met Kaylani and honored that she felt safe sharing her struggles in my group. ⠀
⠀
Tweet us @MoveHappyTeam a screenshot of this blog post and your insights with refugees and depression. We’ll retweet your thoughts and give you writer’s credit.
#2 Way: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏 🤸♀️🌎💜 Know what some signs and symptoms of depression are for refugees. ⠀
⠀
According to this article by the NIH, refugees have a heightened risk of 10x that of average population for having depression and psychiatric disorders because of their exposure to war, violence, instability in home, and torture being the strongest predictor of PTSD. ⠀⠀
⠀
For more info check out the article here.⠀
⠀
I’d love to see you tag some friends that have a passion for refugees and mental health by taking a screenshot of this blog title and posting it onto your Facebook channel. Tag us @TheRealMoveHappy and we’ll reshare your post. ⠀
#3 Way: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏 🤸♀️🌎💜 Know What the global prevalence for depression in those that are refugees. *WARNING MAY TRIGGER PTSD*⠀
⠀
According to the UN Refugee Agency, globally there were 25.9 million refugees at the end of 2018, including 5.5 million Palestinian refugees under the UNRWAs mandate. That is a LOT of people that don’t have safe homes, moving to new areas, many not even speaking the languages. Refugees have 10x more likeliness of being diagnosed with PTSD than average populations. ⠀
For me personally, I went on a mission trip to Mexico in 2007. This was a little less than a year from the time my boyfriend took my purity. And by took my purity, I mean he raped me after a ‘fun karaoke’ night at a bar where I went to the bathroom and asked him to hold my drink, not thinking my own boyfriend would disrespect my wishes to wait.⠀
⠀
I knew I needed to get my mind off of my pain because there’s always someone else that has it worse. The cop told me so when I was trying to figure out the right thing to do. He said, “you don’t want to ruin his career do you?” I felt like it was my fault and needed to get my mind off of my situation and onto things that would help me heal. I decided to go on a Missions Trip to Mexico.⠀
⠀
When I got to San Vicente, we helped at a women and children’s battered shelter. The women were so kind. Everyone had a responsibility, either cleaning, cooking, watching the infants, etc. The children ran about and were curious about the tools at our station.⠀
⠀
I quickly realized my genius zone is not hammering 😂. My mentor asked me to help keep the kids occupied and having fun so they’d stay out of the tools. I LOVED that idea. Rebekkah and Michelle became my little buddies. They were 5 and 6yrs old. They wanted to learn English and would teach me Spanish. ⠀
⠀
They learned my body language and my energy and I learned some pretty cool things to say in Spanish to get myself around.⠀I transferred those skills when I taught swimming lessons back at PLU the following summer.⠀
⠀
I had an adult from Central America never having entered a pool or ocean in my swimming group (beginners).⠀Her husband owned a boat and wanted to travel the sea but she was afraid of the water. He explained to me, she does not speak English, do you think you can handle it? I said, sure I’ll try my best!⠀
⠀
Within 2 weeks of visual demos, I helped her be able to swim 50 yards without touching the ground and slide down a 12 ft pole in the deep end to grab a brick. She wrote me a thank you card in Spanish and he translated it. She wasn’t nervous anymore because I was calm and a good teacher. I used some Spanish that I learned from Michelle and Rebekkah.
⠀
Without the experience in Mexico, I never would have been able to help her learn to swim and overcome her fear of the water. Had I not been disrespected from my boyfriend, I never would have gone to Mexico.⠀
⠀
What are some ways you’ve learned from refugees or PTSD victims? We’d love your input! Go ahead and screenshot the blog title and tweet us @MoveHappyTeam. We’ll retweet your responses that are in alignment with Positive Mindset-Building Community- and Fitness on a budget
⠀
#4 Way: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏🌎💜 What causes depression in refugees? *WARNING MIGHT TRIGGER PTSD*⠀
⠀
The causes of depression can vary person to person. In general, being a refugee means that you are no longer safe in your home country. Imagine waking up one day and bombs going off and people attacking your family because of your race, ethnicity, religion, gender, etc. Imagine having to flee the country without any of your belongings because your life is more important. ⠀
⠀
You realize that all of the things you once thought were important are no longer. You lose a part of you, but you’re not lost. ⠀
⠀
For me personally, I went through something similar when I went through my divorce and had an unplanned lay off from my guaranteed teaching contract. I ended up moving 13 times in 2 years because of financial strain, violence, job loss, and forces outside of my control. ⠀
⠀
I was able to hold onto my faith though. When almost all of my belongings had to be given away because I was going to lose my 🏡 , I decided then that less is way more. ⠀
⠀
No one can take my joy. No one can take my health. No one can take my happiness. All of the important parts of who I am belong to me. I choose to be kind to those that hurt me. I choose to be kind to those that threatened my life. I choose to let go of the hurt from the lies my ex husband tried to use in court. ⠀
⠀
It’s not anywhere close to what refugees have to go through, and its not any less painful for me. I believe I had to go through these struggles so I could have compassion and understanding when I started working at the psychiatric 🏥. I could sympathize with my patients because I had been through so much loss similar to their stories. When we journaled together, I shared some tough stories of things I’d gone through. How could I expect them to open up without me doing the same and leading from the front?
⠀
What experiences do you have around depression and refugees? ⠀
⠀
Please take a screenshot of this blog post and share it on LinkedIn and tag Erin here. Erin will share your thoughtful posts that are in alignment with Mindset-Community-Fitness for Refugees Week.
Move Happy Updates
The Move Happy Movement Podcast© is in full swing! Together we are bringing awareness to mental health, providing practical strategies to empower those with depressed states to move towards their own happiness and inspiring the joy of movement! Tomorrow I’ll be releasing episode 45 with Chris Jackson. He has been managing investments, creating custom portfolios, & delivering Financial Planning for the past 18+ years. Here is a big from his bio “Our truNorth team works with clients in 14 states; including retirees, individuals, couples, business owners, High-Net-Worth, as well as foundations & endowments. I graduated with honors from Shippensburg University with a BSBA in Accounting. I began my investment career in Wealth Management in 2001, being promoted to be the Portfolio Manager (CIO / Senior PM) 12 months later.” You’ll love the episode! He not only is great in business, he encouraged ME with my charity event even before I shared it publicly and bought the first ticket. Make sure to tune in tomorrow by 6p EST for official release. Once its out, go to iTunes and give him a thank you in the reviews so he knows we want him to come back for a 2.0 version!
Follow the Move Happy Movement Podcast wherever you listen (iTunes and Spotify) and Tweet us @MoveHappyTeam if you’d like it on a different platform. Once we have 10,000 listeners we’ll be offering a sweet giveaway! You must be one of the monthly listeners to qualify and be active in commenting/liking/sharing/tweeting Move Happy content on any and all social media platforms. The more platforms you follow us, the easier it will be for us to remember your name when deciding on random giveaways 😘. We’ll keep things updated from the distribution website below ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Social Media University Intensive (Online) Workshop Available Now! I saved myself $192,000 in 2 years by doing the work myself. I teach my system of how I went from 30hrs a week posting 1x/day 5 days a week to 3-5x/day 7 days a week, added a blog, and podcast interview production upload and file conversion all while cutting down my time to about 4-6hrs a week. You learn my system and get live training with me. To sign up for the group workshop email me here (once there is enough interest I will organize a group workshop max of 8). Please include the subject “SMUII Workshop Interest Blog Discount” and your preferred times and timezone country to ease my organizing requirements. If you want to have a more private 1:1 setting in addition to the group workshop sign up here ($9,997 value). Once you receive your emailed receipt, email me your days/time preference for our 1:1 session along with your timezone so I can do my best to accommodate your request timely.
The World Health Organization estimates that $1 trillion dollars is lost annually due to lack of productivity from employees specifically diagnosed with depression and anxiety and not receiving adequate resources from their workplace. I designed a solution to help decrease this statistic. “Work Happy: The Practical Tools For Effective and Inclusive Workplaces©” is in beta. Employees will benefit from this because the workshop is designed with you as the main focus in a positive manner. Employers will benefit from this because people that are cared for work harder and take less sick days, thus increasing your bottom line 💰. The workshop includes a follow up refresher (2 days total). It starts at $1,997 for online training for a company of 5 total employees. Have more employees? We can discuss pricing. First 2 businesses/EAPs to sign up get prioritized scheduling. Schedule your here to set up your Work Happy Needs Analysis©️.
#5 Way: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏🌎💜How can Move Happy help those with depression struggling as refugees? ⠀
⠀
I’m not sure if it’ll help or not but I created a journal for my patients in a psychiatric hospital. The goal of my program was to help move them towards happiness and help them lose weight in a fun low cost way. These were adult patients ages 20-80s from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, races, and genders. Majority of my patients were men, however there were some women as well and people of all colors represented. ⠀
⠀
By the time I ran the Move Happy group the 3rd round, patients started spreading word around the hospital. I had patients not in the group asking for copies of the journal. #MaxedOutCapacity#FireMarshallRules. Luckily we had extra copies made by the printing department.
I don’t know if it’ll help with all of the issues you might be going through as a refugee, but I do know that people kept asking for the 📓. We also had maxed capacity for our room with 100 percent attendance (minus a doctors appointment or court appearance requirement). ⠀
⠀
The patients were engaged in the group, initiated leadership when I got a promotion because of the program (among other cool stuff I took initiative on) and happier according to their self report. ⠀
⠀
To get a copy of the entire program, go here. For Every purchase, 40% of the proceeds goes to a mental health organization of YOUR choice and your local chapter of Big Brothers and Big Sisters.
The next 2 customers that send me emailed receipt will get an extra 20-min coaching consult with me. Subject line “I purchased Move Happy Facilitator Program” to qualify.
⠀
So there it is. Refugees are all around us. They experience 10x more trauma and torture than average Americans. Many of the people we come into contact with are grateful for their lives. Sure some may be difficult to understand because of language barriers. However, they probably speak more languages than you do, so judge less often. Love more often.
PS: Don’t forget to tell someone you love them today
Recent Comments