Migration and exile - some implications for mental health in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

The age of globalisation and the socio-political changes that have taken place in South Africa in the past decade have created powerful contexts within which the issues of belonging and finding a ‘home’ have become very relevant to all South Africans. This article explores the phenomena of migration and exile, which are strongly characterised by an attempt to find a place one can call ‘home’ and where one can belong, and then shows how these experiences can provide a useful framework for understanding a multicultural context such as the one in South Africa. Some of the implications of these phenomena for mental health, specifically the link between schizophrenia and migration, will also be discussed.