Strong social networks are essential for our mental health and overall well-being, and there are many forms of social support that can assist us in our everyday lives.
The four types of social support are:
Emotional support consists of the support we are most likely to receive from our friends and family, this form of support involves a great deal of love, trust, and care (Guruge et al., 2015).
Instrumental can be viewed as the actions or assistant you receive from others that may help you in some way.
Informational support comes in the form advice you may receive from others, which can range from a doctor’s advice to advice or suggestions from people you know.
Appraisal support can be thought of as the feedback and encouragement you receive from the people in your life.
Lack of social support or social networks can increase stress levels and be harmful for our mental health. This may especially be the case for many immigrant women because they may be more at risk of depression or postpartum depression if they have no social support/networks.
Lack of social support may even add on to additional obstacles they face such as:
being separated from existing social networks due to having moved away
discrimination
communication/language difficulties
issues with securing employment
access to services (government, medical, etc.)
transportation
inadequate child-care
family issues
having trouble adjusting to new living environment
Because immigrant women may be at greater risk for depression and postpartum depression, something as simple as:
talking on the phone and offering emotional support as well as encouragement (appraisal support) can make a difference in preventing depression (Guruge et al., 2015).
providing strong spousal support can also help lower the effects of post-partum depression probably because of the emotional and instrumental support they may provide. So, help your partner in any way you can!
Accessibility and Language Barriers:
We can’t underestimate the importance of understanding cultural differences in communication and language, because this can impact immigrant women’s access to necessary services that they and their families can benefit from, such as medical or government services (informational support).
Being aware of these language barriers could make it possible to provide more accurate written information to immigrant women in their language of comfort or through professional interpreters/translators.
Stigma
Because of cultural barriers, mental health is still very stigmatized in certain cultures, and the severity of that stigma can vary from culture to culture. This stigma can affect whether some immigrant women even ask for help to begin with, or whether they reach out to services that may aid their mental health. We should always keep that in mind when trying to provide support and assistance.
Why is this information important?
Because just being aware of the difficulties immigrant women face is the first step for change and improvement for the mental health and overall well-being of these women.
Social support may seem like something so easy or simple to achieve, but that isn’t true for everyone. It’s important to remember that all our experiences are different and so many factors go in to shaping our daily lives.
Keep in mind that all forms of social support lower the risk or effects of depression for immigrant women and are necessary for their overall well-being.
— Liliana Campos