Loss, Obligation, and Recovery: Migration Narratives of Former Soviet Union Families in Israel Caring for a Relative With Mental Illness

Despite the high prevalence of mental health problems among immigrants in many Western countries, little is known about how they or their family members perceive their immigration and adaptation processes. This qualitative article provides a retrospective investigation of immigration perceptions of families from the former Soviet Union in Israel who care for a relative with severe mental illness. Through holistic analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews with 32 family caregivers, 3 key migration narratives emerged: immigration as loss and trauma, immigration as an obligation and sacrifice, and immigration as hope and recovery. In addition, the illness’s narrative profile emerged in three interviews in which migration was not mentioned at all. The findings indicated how the perception of the intersection of immigration and illness challenges traditional meta-narratives of immigration, especially when the onset of a family member’s illness occurs post-migration. The study highlights the need to reduce the subjective burden of family caregivers rooted in negative meanings of migration and advocates for more tailored social policies for them and their relatives before and after immigration.