Chaired by Linde Wotton
That which is lost in translation
Referring to linguistic communication from the perspective of migration, I consider that there is a migratory loss in relation to the language, which is one of the 7 bereavements of migration. The immigrant must make the effort to learn a new language to be able to communicate, a fundamental element in mental health. Not being able to communicate or only to do so with difficulty produces feelings of loneliness and anxious and depressive symptoms. Keep in mind that more than 10% of the population suffers from hearing problems, dyslexia, dysgraphia, which further limits their communication. Or the problems of the elderly and / or illiterate people when communicating in another language. Also undocumented immigrants living in hiding, many of them with Ulysses Syndrome, have great difficulty communicating in the language of the host country. As an immigrant told me in the consultation when I asked him about the subject: “Hey, the language? You know, Doctor, doing clandestine work one speaks very little.”
But this loss is not only experienced by immigrants, but also by the natives, who must make an effort to adapt to other languages spoken in their environment. Although learning a new language has very positive aspects and is enriching, it is also an effort and more so when the native has not expressly sought that situation. I remember the case of a neighbour from the Raval area of Barcelona who told me in a community meeting: I used to live in this house surrounded by natives. Now up there live Chinese & Gambians, on the landing, Moroccans & Pakistanis, and downstairs Senegalese, Ukrainians …… the stair meetings look like the UN, it is difficult to understand.
Joseba Achotegui
Doctor of Psychiatry, Professor at the University of Barcelona. Specialist in Mental Health and Migration, Community Mental Health, Evolutionary Psychology and Psychotherapy. He has been re-elected as General Secretary of the Transcultural Section of the World Psychiatric Association. Author of several books and a regular writer of a blog in the Public newspaper. He has received, among others, the following awards: Professional Trajectory and Investigation Award of the School of Public Health of The University of California, Berkeley (2019); Medical Excellence Award of the Official College of Physicians of Barcelona (2018); José Chávez Award from Hispanic immigrant associations in California for working with immigrants; Dean’s Team Award for Excellence by the University of California, Davis. Working group composed of Dr Achotegui and 5 professors from Californian universities who delved into the concept “Ulysses Syndrome” (2016)
José Miguel Sunyer
Dr. in Psychology, specialist in clinical psychology. Group analyst. I started as a re-educator and occupational therapist and, later, as a psychologist and director of the H.D. of the Psychiatry Service of the Hospital de Bilbao. Director of the H.D. Group Initiatives (Barcelona). Professor at the Faculty of Psychology at the Ramón Llull University. Trustee of the OMIE Foundation, coordinating the training courses in Group Analytical Psychotherapy (Deusto University) in Bilbao, Barcelona and currently in Madrid. Founding member and first president of the Association for Group Analytical Psychotherapy. Founding member and first president of the Institute of Group Analysis of the OMIE Foundation. Editor of «Teoría y práctica grupoanalítica». Author of “Orientación psicológica grupoanalítica”, “Psicoterapia de grupo grupoanalítica˝, “Escritos grupoanalíticos” y “Experiencias grupoanalíticas”.