Stress and the Immigration Process
Immigration proceedings are stressful.
For anybody who has been through the immigration process, it is no secret that it is a very complicated and stressful experience. The process requires you to collect many documents, share your information with multiple people, get an immigration evaluation, attend several appointments… and for many this takes months to years.
Many people who are applying for visas, waivers, or other immigration applications are asked to share their many traumas over and over. What may feel like a normal day to an immigration attorney can be a retraumatizing day for the client. Sharing our stories with strangers and professionals is not easy. It can bring up old feelings, memories, and symptoms. In our immigration evaluations, we often discuss the life stories of a client. We try to do this with care and compassion, but we understand that it is a really difficult thing for our clients to do. Understanding trauma is essential.
Retraumatize is a word that refers to the effects of reliving an old traumatic event. Getting in a bad car accident, and then almost getting into another car accident a few months later can be a retraumatizing experience. This is actually a very normal thing to happen as our brains try to protect us from danger. (Scroll to the bottom if you would like to learn the biology behind this! It’s really cool.)
When we have to revisit old traumatic memories, it is common for similar feelings to come back. For example, you might feel nervous like your heart is beating faster, it’s harder to breath, your palms are sweating, and you feel sick to your stomach. If you are experiencing these symptoms, you are not alone. This is the brain doing its best to protect you. The problem is that the brain does not understand you’re not currently experiencing the event, and it is still responding to the event of the past.
Going through the immigration process, you are usually required to write letters and declarations about yourself. These are usually very details accounts of the traumatic things you have endured in your life. Many of our clients explain that this process brings up a lot of discomfort and stress for them. When an attorney tells a client that they need to also get an immigration evaluation for their mental health, the dread to tell your story again is unimaginable. This is why it is so important to have a mental health professional who is well trained in trauma and traumatic stress.
If you’re experiencing stress and retraumatization due to your immigration proceedings, I highly recommend you reach out to a mental health professional in your community. You can also do a Google search for “coping skills for stress” and see if anything there helps. Keep checking the blog for more tips to manage stress!
Want to know why? Here’s the brain science. 🤓
When we are being threatened or in danger our brains, a part of our brain called the amygdala (uh-mig-duh-lah) is activated. The amygdala is the part of our brain that is charge of helping keep us safe by scanning for danger and preparing the body to protect itself. Back in time when humans faced big threats like bears or lions on a more regular basis, this was an extremely useful tool to stay safe!
The amygdala tells the body to do the following:
The pupils dilate in order to enhance your vision.
The adrenal glands release hormones into your body like adrenaline and cortisol that help give you the energy you need to protect yourself.
The adrenaline causes your blood vessels to open wider, which allows more blood to get to your major muscle groups.
The body creates higher blood sugar to give you more energy.
The heart begins to beat much faster, pumping blood throughout the body at a quicker rate.
Some people defecate, urinate, or vomit in order to expel excess material from the body.
The palms of the hands get sweaty, as well as other parts of the body.
Breathing becomes quicker and more shallow.
All of these responses are what happens when we experience trauma. It was useful when we were required to fight predators in the wild, but many of us don’t live in that world anymore. In addition to this happening when being attacked by human or predator, other things also threaten us and trigger this response like work stress, immigration difficulties, family stress, etc.