Suicide and suicidality in immigrant populations – transcultural aspects

Abstract

To live as an immigrant in a foreign environment trying to restart his/her life is a major challenge for an individual and requires outstanding coping capacities. Some categories of immigrants suffer therefore from significant psychological stress and are at elevated risk for attempted or completed suicide: e. g. asylum seekers, second generation immigrants, uprooted refugees. In order to evaluate correctly the suicide risk and to offer effective treatment, a comprehensive assessment of the patient’s history of migration is required. Only through a careful exploration of a patient’s history and actual reality of life an effective approach is possible. The involvement of trained interpreters is essential if clinician and patient have no common language. Makeshifts like family members or friends as interpreters are not qualified and must be avoided. To approach the patient in an open minded, not judgmental, empathetic attitude is the key, and even culturally very different patients will be contactable.