Mental Health

Any form of migration can put individuals, families and the communities involved under stress.

At IOM, we advocate for a collective effort to support the mental health of migrants, displaced individuals, and diaspora communities, ensuring they receive the necessary care and resources to thrive.

Migrants often face the greatest challenges and vulnerabilities:

The ability to work is often central to migrants' psychosocial well-being, as the inability to provide for themselves and their families—whether due to unexpected challenges or unmet expectations—becomes one of the primary sources of stress they face.

Migrants often face additional stressors beyond those typically experienced by workers, such as discrimination, cultural misunderstandings, unconscious biases, and an internalized sense of inferiority compared to local workers.

Migrants who have experienced severe stressors, such as victims of trafficking, may face high levels of distress that can affect their psychological readiness to work.

Recognizing the importance of the links between migration, mental health and work, IOM’s MHPSS programme in Iraq developed the MHPSS and Livelihood Integration manual.

This manual provides guidance on psychosocial skills and coping mechanisms that can support people engaged in livelihoods, promoting their ability to take full advantage of their work in the short and long-term.

Implementing a comprehensive approach to Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS)

IOM protects and promotes the mental health and psychosocial well-being of migrant and host communities using a community-based, interdisciplinary and flexible approach.

IOM and the Netherlands’ Cooperation on Migration and Partnerships to Achieve Sustainable Solutions programme, or COMPASS in short, supports this approach by integrating MHPSS into various tools and training materials, including the IOM Case Management Guidelines, e-learning courses, and specialized protection trainings.

Making MHPSS a core part of COMPASS’ work to guide safe migration (2021-2023)

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	Hassina’s Story: Finding Strength in Psychosocial Support


	Hassina’s story is a testament to the power of psychosocial support in overcoming stigma, building resilience, and fostering community. It is just one of many examples of how the COMPASS programme has prioritized mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) to address the unique challenges faced by vulnerable populations across the globe.

	Whether you’re in Niger or Iraq, in Afghanistan or Ethiopia, there are many ways you can contribute to improved mental health in your life, workplace and projects.

	Show support to migrant colleagues. The 5 golden rules are 1) Promote cultural inclusivity, 2) Train all staff in Intercultural Communication; 3) Offer mental health services; 4) Encourage language proficiency; and 5) Keep communication channels open. Advocate for an end to social stigma about mental health. Anyone can experience mental health challenges. Educate yourself about mental health and encourage respectful discussions where people can share their personal experiences without fear of judgement and with access to support. Consider how you can integrate MHPSS into your projects. Mental health and psychosocial support cuts across most IOM programming areas, including humanitarian response, migration health, migrant protection and assistance, peace and recovery, border governance, resettlement and labour mobility. K-par-Cas 2 is a versatile toolkit that provides individual migrants with a unique means to express themselves, allowing them to share information about their identity and life experiences, emotions, and skills. The e-learning on Mental Health and Migration Awareness Raising explains the connections between mental health and migration and how we can support migrants and vulnerable people during awareness raising activities. Check out additional manuals and toolkits on MHPSS from IOM here.

	Become part of the conversation
	If you're new to MHPSS and migration, we have collected some key resources to get you started on a mental health and migration learning journey: The Migrant Protection Platform is a hub for knowledge sharing and dialogue on migrant protection, including MHPSS.

	Browse through a special newsletter dedicated to the World Mental Health Day 2024 with the latest key resources to deepen your understanding of how to best support migrant populations’ access to Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS). Browse

	Watch a webinar on Mental Health and Psychosocial Perspectives on Migration, Return and Reintegration. Watch Now

Mental Health

Migrants often face the greatest challenges and vulnerabilities:

Hassina’s Story: Finding Strength in Psychosocial Support

Whether you’re in Niger or Iraq, in Afghanistan or Ethiopia, there are many ways you can contribute to improved mental health in your life, workplace and projects.

Become part of the conversation