Canada: Psychosis in the Immigrant Caribbean Population

Abstract

Many reports from European countries suggest that acute episodes of psychosis are more frequent among immigrants from the Caribbean than among their non-immigrant peers. The aim of this selective review is to examine how the social correlates of migration to Canada interact with biological mechanisms to contribute to psychosis in the Caribbean population. PubMed and JSTOR social science databases (between 1966 and 2010) were searched using the following search terms: psychiatric genetics; dopamine pathways; Caribbean family structure and child rearing; cannabis and psychosis; obstetric complications and schizophrenia; social defeat; social capital; racial discrimination; urbanicity; immigration; assimilation; and immigration. This was followed by the cross-checking of references pertinent to Canada. There was no information about the prevalence of psychosis in Afro-Caribbean immigrant groups to Canada. There was a suggestion that the form the acute episode takes may differ, depending perhaps on the island of origin. Ethnicity and migration influence susceptibility and response to psychotic illness in a number of distinct and interacting ways depending both on the host country and the country of origin. Understanding the pathways can help to protect the health of immigrants.