An immigrant's recovery: paving the path to mental health
In this question and answer article, Ms. Caroline Fei-Yeng Kwok discusses her experience with resettlement, her path to recovery from mental illness, recommendations for service providers and her two books with IRMHP’s newsletter producer.
Caroline is an immigrant survivor of bipolar disorder, an advocate on recovery and a promoter of mental health, an author, and a public speaker. She is the recipient of the 2001 Courage to Come Back Award and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health 2017 Difference Makers Award. Ms. Kwok has a Master of Education degree from the University of Toronto and a diploma of creative writing from Yale University.
Producer: Tell me about your migration experience to Canada?
Caroline: I am from Hong Kong, went to undergraduate school in the United States, traveled to Europe on my own, and received a Diploma of Education from the University of Hong Kong. Coming to Toronto with my husband, I had to re-train to get a teaching job at the Toronto District School Board. As a new immigrant, I knew nothing about Canadian culture.
Producer: How did you develop mental illness and what role did resettlement stressors play?
Caroline: Adapting to a new country while my marriage was breaking up brought great stress which led, ultimately, to admission to a psychiatric ward and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. There were further stresses to do with my re-training and looking after my parents who were having trouble adjusting to Canada. They spoke limited English. I had no friends to confide in. Having a mental illness was seen as a stigma in the Chinese community. I couldn’t easily adjust to the mental health treatment I was receiving. It felt very foreign to me. I felt frustrated and lost in Canada and worried about my future. I couldn’t deal with the cold weather.
Producer: What would you say contributed to your recovery?
Caroline: I have recovered partly due to my continuation of taking the appropriate dose of effective medications with no side-effects, a supportive psychiatrist, Dr. John Klukach, and several self-help strategies. My spirituality gives me strength. Friends now accept me. My professor at a Yale University summer creative writing course believed that I could write. I began to write about what I had experienced, and professionals gives me encouragement. I also give presentations about mental health at conferences/hospitals in both North America and Asia. My dreams are realized, and confidence regained.
Producer: what advice would you give to a settlement worker who is working with a new immigrant or refugee in a similar situation like you were in dealing with mental illness?
Caroline: My advice would be to assure newcomers that they are now safe in Canada. Once they feel safe, I would provide them with resources such as connections with family physicians, information about the mental health system, social and cultural support, psychosocial education, and connections to their community of origin. To provide them with ESL training, links to affordable housing, employment opportunities give them safety and hope, and to explore their strengths, are important elements to mental health. When mental health symptoms are detected, clients feel demoralized or anxious. I would encourage them to overcome their fear of the mental health system and to seek help immediately.
Producer: what advice would you give to healthcare providers working with a new immigrant or a refugee in a similar situation like you were in and dealing with mental illness?
Caroline: Healthcare providers must seek a cultural understanding of immigrant and refugee populations, be aware of cultural manifestations of emotional problems, and learn to be empathic of the trauma and stress experienced in the migration journey. To put their clients at ease in opening their feelings up, healthcare providers should use a non-threatening approach, build a trusting therapeutic relationship with their patients, and greet them with a welcoming smile.
Producer: tell us the focus of your two books and why you wrote them?
Caroline: Free to Fly: A Story of Manic Depression is my biographical narrative as an Asian immigrant diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I suffered initial fear with the clinical psychiatric treatment and the mental health system, and stigma of the illness by the community.
My resilience has helped me overcome the stigma. My survival with a two-week coma caused by a psychiatrist has made me have more understanding of medications and the system. The understanding of my present psychiatrist and encouragements by professionals have made my dream of a writer and a public speaker realized. Recovery is possible.
I also hope that this book can help professionals understand the trauma of their immigrant/refugee clients go through. As well, to clients not to give up hope when they encounter their moments of crisis.
Journeys of Renewed Hope consists of seven stories on the theme of empowerment and recovery from mental illness. The fictional characters, mainly immigrants and refugees, suffer from mood disorders, anxiety, post-partum depression, and post traumatic stress disorders. The clinical model plays a role in their recovery, but more so, elements in the empowerment model of the recovery movement (safety, cultural support, familial acceptance, resilience in overcoming stigma, spirituality, hope, and dreams) also contribute an important role.
I hope that through these stories, awareness of mental disorders can increase. The public and the professionals need to know more about a) the ubiquity of mood disorders and b) the fact that recovery from mental illness is the rule, not the exception.
The reasons I wrote these two books are to let the public, especially new immigrants and refugees, know that mental illness is very common. One in five Canadians suffers from mental illness, mainly mood disorders and anxiety, regardless of age, gender, cultural and intellectual backgrounds. One should get help when early symptoms are detected. Research demonstrates that mental illness is treatable, and recovery is highly probable.
Ms. Kwok is available for workshops/lectures on immigrant and refugee mental health and also about the significance of the recovery movement. She has given presentations at national and international conferences.
Her website: carolinerecovery.com provides further information about her work and books.
Email: Kwokcaroline@rogers.com