The Children of Immigrants and their Mental Health Struggles

 

People from all parts of the world come to America to start afresh life full of opportunity and prosperity. Many of these immigrants do not follow through with the goals they made when they began their journey which is to live the American dream. In lieu, they set their aspirations onto the shoulders of their young children, and some go as far as to let them know that they have sacrificed it all so that they can give them the life they have. Imagine being as young as ten years old knowing the future of your family rests upon you. Imagine the type of stress that has on your mental health. Of course, you don’t want to let your parents down because as they told you, they sacrificed everything just for you, so from a young age you accept that you need to step up to the plate and put your mental health to the side to make sure you become successful so that your parents’ sacrifices are not in vain

Growing up with immigrant parents is like growing up between two worlds. The children of immigrants grow up with the culture and traditions that their parents bring with them while growing up in a place completely different. It becomes challenging to find a balance between the two when their parents want to make sure they hold on to their heritage, but the outside world wants them to adapt. I always grew up identifying myself as Mexican even though I was born and raised in America. I wanted to hold on to the traditions and heritage my parents came with, I speak the language, dance to the music, and eat the food, everything about my life is Mexican except for the fact that I grow up in America. Trying to find a balance between my parent’s heritage and the culture where I grow up is difficult and it leaves me not knowing who I am. The two cultures don’t necessarily mix, I feel like I am constantly playing tug-of-war with myself and depending on what situation I am in, like a job interview, I’ll let my American sideshow or vice versa. The children of immigrants “must work harder to establish their ethnic identity after living in the liminal space of “never truly belong[ing] ‘here’” or ‘there, said Suárez-Orozcos, author of Learning a New Land. Imagine growing up with values, traditions, and a culture that does not reflect what is that of the place you live in,  finding the balance between the world of your parents and the American world you live in takes a heavy toll on your mental health. The constant pressure of trying to find your own identity while being influenced by two different parties makes it hard to find who you are and who you want to become. 

For the children of immigrants, childhood is not what they may expect it to be, in reality, they have to grow up fast to help their parents with whatever problems they may face. In To Be the Child of an Immigrant Kenna Chick recalls that “Even at a young age, many of my immigrant peers and I have had to learn to translate documents, bills, and even laws to my family.”(Mental Health America). Growing up like this means that they are introduced to problems the family is currently facing which can be a lot to handle for young children. For example, I can relate to this remembering perhaps being as young as ten years old and being asked by my parents to help them read important documents such as bank statements, union letters, and documents regarding the IRS. I was just ten; how in the world am I supposed to help them translate a document filled with sophisticated language? When I would tell them that “I’m sorry, I really don’t understand what this says,” they would respond by saying “You grow up in America and can’t understand English?”. That was something that hit me hard, it would make me contemplate whether I was good enough to live up to the expectations my parents wanted me to achieve, and this is the story for many other children of immigrants.

The fact that the children of immigrants are introduced early on to the duties needed to fulfill their parents’ dreams like making sure they get an education and a respectable job means their early and most important years are lived trying to make sure they reach the expectations of their parents. Their parents instilled it in their mind that they sacrificed it all just for us, the last thing they want to do is let them down, so it comes naturally that they always seek their approval. Living for your parents instead of living for yourself keeps your mind in a dangerous place where you might never be satisfied with the stage of success you are in. When I graduated from High School people told me that I did not look as excited as I should have, thinking about it now it could be for the reason that I know that I am still not in the position where my parents want me to end at. All that crossed my mind on graduation day was the fact that college is coming, I worried over whether my major would get me a job soon so I can give back to my parents and create a life for myself. 

“The struggles that come with having immigrant parents may include constant seeking of approval, always having to be responsible, as well as immigrant parents discussing the future that they may have already planned for their child.” (Bezikyan). As I mentioned before it takes a toll on us knowing that our parents’ expectations are so high, we as their children try our best to make sure they are proud so we always look for their approval. “Growing up may also mean learning to appreciate a parent’s love language”(Learning a New Land), the parents of the children of immigrants may not always directly said “I love you” or “Keep up the good work”, they can show it in different ways. Sometimes, however, not feeling the direct love of your parents due to not understanding how they show it makes you second guess yourself and what you are doing. Am I still not good enough for what my parents envision me to become? Low self-esteem amplified by the standards of your parents and not knowing whether or not you make them proud definitely negatively impacts your mental health. 

When Donald Trump was elected our new President I know for sure that caused many children of immigrants to be afraid. Imagine how traumatizing this can be for young children experiencing losing a family member to deportation. In addition, Donald Trump has shown interest in ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which is the program that has given millions of immigrants brought to America at a young age the hope to make a life for themselves. The removal of this program means millions of teenagers looking to go to college won’t receive financial help and perhaps not receive a job after college. 

“Roughly half-a-million U.S. citizen children experienced the apprehension, detention, and deportation of at least one parent in the course of about two years”. Fatima Avecilia was just thirteen years old when her father was apprehended by immigration agents. She said, “It was the hardest thing to watch, but I still went to school because my father showed me the importance of education”. Fatima was strong and pushed through that horrible event and the fact that she still went to school is significant as it shows how immigrant parents make sure they teach their children to value school to make a life for themselves. The poor girl didn’t have time to grief, she immediately thought to herself that she needs to go to school no matter how she may be feeling. It is important for your mental health to let your emotions out and have someone there listening to you to help you cope with traumatic events but for the children of immigrants, this is not much of a reality. 

 

Many immigrants come to this country with young children who unfortunately have to live a life as an immigrant, which means losing out on benefits while growing up in a new country that becomes their home. My cousin Juan is one of these children. He was brought to this country at the age of two and he has lived here ever since. He hasn’t been to Mexico ever since he left so America is all he knows now, this is truly where he belongs. Unfortunately, since he is an immigrant he faces struggles that citizens don’t need to go through. He and I grew up almost like brothers, we are very close and whatever I go through he goes through as well. When I asked him how it feels to grow up as an immigrant he responded by saying, “It has been hard especially because I see you and my brother being able to do things I can’t like travel. I know I won’t have the same privileges you guys have, at least I am a DACA recipient so I can still get my license and have other privileges other immigrants don’t.”. Juan is living a harder life compared to me and he had no control over his immigration status since he was brought here at a very young age. When he was in high school however, he became a DACA recipient so he now has social security and license so he is grateful for the privileges DACA gives him. His immigration status has also made it hard for him to get into a good school due to financial purposes although he is very smart. When I asked him to elaborate on this, he said, “Yeah it sucks I don’t get the financial aid that is why I go to a community college, that is what I can afford.”. Juan admits that his mental health has suffered due to his immigration status. He said, “I stay up at night just thinking about that my life may not turn out how I wish it to be, I know I need to work harder than everyone else to succeed and that is a lot for me to deal with.”.

My friend Alan faces a similar story; he was also brought here at a young age but he is not a DACA recipient. Alan is seriously affected by this and he always tells me how his mental health struggles due to his immigration status. He told me “I think I am depressed, I don’t know how I will pay for college or even get a job, I don’t even have social security.” Alan was recently hospitalized and taken to an institute to help with his depression, he is always up thinking about his struggles and that is essentially the one thing on his mind. He has lost all motivation in his life, he told me, “I wanted to become a science teacher but I know I won’t even be able to become one so I don’t even know what to do with my life anymore.”. 

It is obvious that if you witness your parents get deported or if you struggle day to day due to your immigration status that your mental health will begin to suffer. Sadly this is a part of the story some of the children of immigrants go through and if they don’t get the psychiatric help they need their mental health will just worsen with time.

There are millions of children of immigrants struggling with their mental health and many of them don’t receive the help they need. Whether it is from the parents not believing in the fact that you can suffer from your mental health or not having the resources to get the help necessary. 

 

Immigrant communities tend to have a stigma regarding mental help so they are likely not to find the help their children may need. For many immigrants “mental health education in their homeland was non-existent.”(Ponte). Mental health is not something actively talked about in other less affluent countries so the children of immigrants suffer as a result. It is likely that the children of immigrants tell their parents that they would like to see a therapist but their parents may think that seeing a therapist won’t do anything and it is looked at with a negative connotation. Instead of seeing a therapist the parents of the children of immigrants may suggest “herbal remedies or spiritual practices.”(Ponte). These alternative methods of trying to help their children’s mental health are likely practices that the parents feel more comfortable with trying. It is unfortunate however that many children of immigrants do not get the professional help they need due to the stigma their parents have due to their different cultures. 

In addition to a stigma towards mental health, the parents of the children of immigrants have a hard time trying to get the professional help their children need. The children of immigrant parents may not go to a therapist because the price is too high for professional mental help and because “racial/ethnic minorities accounted for a small proportion of the psychology workforce (16 percent in 2016)”(American Psychological Association). The parents of the children of immigrants are likely to feel more comfortable having their child speak to someone of the same ethnic background and since that is rare their parents may refuse to let their child get the help they need. In America, people of color are less likely to seek psychiatric help partly due to low representation in the psychiatric workforce with “Black and Hispanic Americans at half the rate of white Americans, and Asian Americans at one third the rate.”(Vice). The price of mental health treatment is very high “ranging from $100 to $300 per session”(Mental Health America), and with immigrant families that are a lower-middle-class, mental health treatment would be considered a splurge.

Many people may be surprised to hear that the children of immigrants suffer from mental health, after all, they have more opportunities than their parents, for this reason, the children of immigrants may not have much of a struggle. Immigrant families tend to be a close-knit unit where support is strong. Findings by the Child and Family Blog say that the children of immigrants suffer less from mental health than natives due to “family cohesion”. In addition, they say that the close parental monitoring the parents of the children of immigrants give towards school allows the children of immigrants to excel in school. This, of course, can lead to better mental health because this leads to the children of immigrants not stressing over the school. All this may be true however, the overwhelming pressure that the children of immigrants go through outweighs family cohesion and parental monitoring in my opinion.

 

America is the land of the free, the home of the brave, the place where you can live the American dream. Immigrants come to America chasing these ideas that were established long ago in an America that is drastically different than what is today. They hope their kids can grow up in America and become successful so that their children can live a life of opportunity that they never had. Many first-born generations of immigrants do have more opportunities than their parents had so they are expected to excel with ease, however, people don’t understand the pressure we grow up with placed upon us by our parents. The children of immigrants face constant pressure from their parents and they need to grow up essentially between two cultures and adapting to America can be hard. In addition, the children of immigrants may experience their parents getting deported or they may grow up as an immigrant as well as making their lives even harder. In a place where we can apparently live the American dream, it is an unfortunate yet true reality that the children of immigrants suffer from their mental health in America.

 

Rhetorical Analysis of The Hidden Stress of Growing Up a Child of Immigrants

The Hidden Stress of Growing Up a Child of Immigrants is an article written by Nicole Clark that was published on Vice. This article was originally published in Vice Magazine’s “Border Issue” which explores “both physical and invisible borders and examines who is affected by these lines.” Nicole Clark wrote this article in response to the fact that the children of immigrants face in America and this something not well known which is why she titled the article with “The Hidden Stress”. Clark wrote this to inform people of the struggles the children of immigrants face which is a group of people in America that I think is not widely spoken about struggle wise. Everyone has a battle to face so Clark just wants it to be known that the children of immigrants have their own battle too. Clark’s audience are people interested in border issues, or the problems that come from immigration. Vice Magazine tends to have a liberal bias so the readers of this article will tend to be liberal as well. Clark feel sympathy towards the children of immigrants and sides with the fact that the children of immigrants do indeed struggle with mental health. In her article her language helps support her stance such as when she says “challenges of assimilating to Western Culture” to show the children of immigrants may find it hard to adapt to American culture, and she also uses the word “resilience” to show the children of immigrants need to withstand difficult situations. Her tone is sympathetic as it shows her understanding of the struggles of the children of immigrants. 

 

Works Cited

Bezikyan, Helen. “Pressures of Being a First Generation American-Born Citizen.” The Sundial, sundial.csun.edu/113606/opinions/pressures-of-being-a-first-generation-american-born-citizen/.

Chick, Kenna. “To Be the Child of an Immigrant: Mental Health America.” Mha, www.mhanational.org/blog/be-child-immigrant.

“Children of Immigrant Parents Have Better Mental Health than Native Children.” Child and Family Blog, 30 May 2019, www.childandfamilyblog.com/child-development/children-immigrant-parents-mental-health/.

Clark, Nicole, and Lia Kantrowitz. “The Hidden Stress of Growing Up a Child of Immigrants.” Vice, 12 Sept. 2019, www.vice.com/en_us/article/43kgzn/the-hidden-stress-of-growing-up-a-child-of-immigrants-v26n3.

Lin, Luona. “2007-16: Demographics of the U.S. Psychology Workforce.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, www.apa.org/workforce/publications/16-demographics/index.

Ponte, Katherine. “NAMI.” Home, nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/July-2019/Mental-Health-Challenges-in-Immigrant-Communities.

Suâarez-Orozco Carola, et al. Learning a New Land. 2008.