La migration internationale face à la santé mentale au Sénégal: récits, discours et imaginaires

We are examining the various forms of conjunctions constructed between mental health and migration in Senegalese society. Is mental illness considered a threat to those who “set off”, and to what extent migration is viewed as a peril that weakens the identity, sociality, and stability of the migrant? Drawing from a composite corpus, we examine discourses related to establishing the diagnosis, therapeutic treatment, and status of the mentally ill migrant’s speech and place in society in order encompass the various representations by those interested in that question. Although our data are mainly composed of narratives, speech function is a pivotal theme of our inquiry. The key question concerns space of speech, namely that allocated to the mentally ill migrant. Throughout the question of his freedom of speech poses that of the recognition of his mental illness. In a society where the migrant is viewed as a significant social, affective, financial and symbolic contributor, how tellable and audible his failure is in preserving the honor and prestige of his family, put in his hands? That question entails that of the transmission of the migration experience within families and communities.