The purpose of this study was to examine international students’ experiences of mental health issues during their studies in Sweden. These experiences are seldom represented in academic literature, and thus this paper aims to recount international students’ experiences of mental health issues, the methods in which they handle those issues and the role that Swedish culture, people and institutions have played in those experiences. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with international students currently enrolled at the Linnaeus University in Växjö, Sweden – and subsequently analyzed through inductive thematic analysis. The results were summarized in four main themes; Acculturation, Mental Health, Under-utilization of Healthcare Facilities and Loneliness. The study concludes that international students may suffer from mental health issues that go undetected by university officials and mental health resources, and that universities may benefit from investing in programs to identify and offer support towards students in general, and international students in particular. / Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka internationella studenters erfarenheter av mental ohälse under sin studievistelse i Sverige. Denna grupps erfarenheter blir sällan belysta i akademiska kontexter, och denna studie avsåg att skildra dels internationella studenters upplevelser av mental ohälsa, det sätt denna grupp hanterar dessa upplevelser på, samt vilken roll den Svenska kontexten, kulturen, folket och samhället spelar i dessa upplevelser. Data samlades in via semi-strukturerade intervjuer med internationella studenter vilka då vad studerande vid Linnéuniversitetet i Växjö, Sverige. Dessa data analyserades sedan ur en induktiv, tematisk analys. Resultaten representerades i fyra temata; Ackulturation, Mental Hälsa, Underutnyttjande av Vårdinstitutioner, och Ensamhet. Studien når slutsatsen att internationella studenter kan lida av mental ohälsa vilken gå förbisedd av universitetsanställd personal och personal anställd för att arbeta med mental ohälsa bland studenter. Universitet skulle potentiellt kunna främjas av investeringar i program för att identifiera och erbjuda stöd gentemot både inhemska och internationella studenter.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-75336 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Amarasinghe, Jayathu |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för psykologi (PSY) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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