Seeking Asylum and Mental Health

"This book is a practical guide for mental health professionals working with people seeking asylum. Often 'refugees' and 'asylum seekers' are spoken of together, as if they are almost the same. But they are not. If you are a 'refugee', it will have been accepted that you can't go back to the country that you fled, that you need safety, protection, and a chance to build a life somewhere else, at least for the time being. You can then set about that rebuilding. If you are an 'asylum seeker', your needs have not yet been recognised - and they may never be. You live with minimal resources, on the margins of a strange society, subject to hostile scrutiny from both those around you, and the asylum process itself. People seeking asylum are at an increased risk of mental ill-health compared to refugees and other migrants (Jannesari et al, 2020) - which is one of the reasons we are writing this book. They are also in a very particular predicament, which is not always recognised - another reason for the book"--