Is migrating a risk factor for one’s mental health? Well, sometimes yes, and sometimes no – it depends on the context and perspective.
Of course, “context and perspective” is the simple way of putting it. You’ll hear about some of the complexity behind this, in this episode!
You’ll hear Itzel Eguiluz interview Ietza Bojorquez and Sylvia Dantas about their work with migrants in Mexico and Brazil.
In their short conversation, they get to the heart of why treating mental health in multicultural contexts can be so challenging. We hear about the importance of reflexivity – and specifically how the position and cultural backgrounds of practitioners as well as migrants facing mental health difficulties should be taken into consideration.
It turns out, that in their work trying to improve mental health support for migrants, both Ietza and Sylvia are working to provide better access to the health care for migrants in general, and they talk about why this is a necessary foundational step.
Ietza Bojorquez is a professor-researcher at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Tijuana, Mexico. She is also working on the Observatorio de Salud y Movilidad en México, and has a background in epidemiology. She works on the topics of migrant mental health, including migrants' access to healthcare and addressing mental health issues among migrants. These days her research mainly focuses on migrants in transit through Mexico and Mexican migrants deported from the United States.
Sylvia Dantas is a Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at São Paulo Federal University. She is also the vice-coordinator of the research group “Intercultural Dialogues” at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the same university. Sylvia has a PhD in social psychology, and she focuses on intercultural psychology, psychoanalysis and guidance for organizations and individuals, especially when it comes to migration, prejudice, and ethnic and cultural identities.
Thank you for tuning in!
For more information on Ietza's and Sylvia's work, see below;
From Ietza Bojorquez:
Project name and website: https://observatorios.colef.mx/osymm/
1. Bojorquez-Chapela, Ietza, Leyva-Flores, René, Gomez-López, Diana, Vázquez, Esther K, Cortés-Alcalá, Ricardo (2023). Forced migration and psychological distress among migrants in transit through Mexico. Salud Pública de México. Publicado en línea 15 de diciembre 2023. https://doi.org/10.21149/14829
2. Bojorquez Ietza, Sepúlveda Jaime, Lee Deandra, Strathdee Steffanie (2022). Interrupted transit and common mental disorders among migrants in Tijuana, Mexico. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 68(5):1018-1025. doi:10.1177/00207640221099419.
3. Bojorquez, Ietza, Odgers-Ortiz, Olga, Olivas-Hernández, Olga (2021). Psychosocial and mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown: A rapid qualitative study in migrant shelters at the Mexico-United States border. Salud Mental, 44(4):167-175. DOI: 10.17711/SM.0185-3325.2021.022
4. Bojorquez, I., Aguilera, R. M., Ramírez, J., Cerecero, D. & Mejía, S. (2015) Common Mental Disorders at the Time of Deportation: A Survey at the Mexico–United States Border. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 17(6):1732-1738. Publicado en línea 14 de agosto de 2014, DOI: 10.1007/s10903-014-0083-y
From Sylvia Dantas
Her new book: Resignifying Migration and Minorities’ Cultural Contact in Brazil (May 2025), Springer: Launch event (in Portuguese): June 9, 2025. More information here.