The purpose of this research project was to highlight that there are different perspectives on mental health that stem from various experiences. All of these views should be valued and not discriminated against for any reason other than that they are different. As a child of Soviet Immigrants, I quickly observed that my parents and extended family perceived mental health differently than other Americans. I never understood why they did so when I had the opportunity to conduct research in International Mental Health, I thought this was the perfect time to find out why. With this project, I wanted to illuminate that when people have varying outlooks on subjects, there is a reason for that, and it is justifiable. I went about my research with ethnographic interviews, where I interviewed 11 Soviet Union immigrants in depth over Zoom. My questions ranged from how mental health was discussed in the former Soviet Union to how their view on the subject has changed since immigrating to the United States. From these interviews, I quickly learned that candid mental health discussion was non-existent in the Soviet Union and the topic was highly condemned to the point where citizens feared talking about it in any manner. All my participants recognized how stigmatized mental health was in the Soviet Union and agree that their views have changed since coming to America. However, they still feel that they hold with them a certain tainted outlook on Westernized mental health practices such as therapy and medication because of how intensely they were verboten and punishable in the Soviet Union. Thus, the conclusion I come to in my research is that there is not a one size fits all approach to mental health and other treatments and practices outside Westernized methods should be embraced.

Last modified

• 10/06/2021

Creator

• Shteynberg, Emily

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-qx44-1m96

Keyword

• global health

Date created

• 2021

Resource type

• Poster

Rights statement

• In Copyright