Proposal: Isabella and Jordan

We propose that immigrant families are at greater risk of having a presence of depression within their family. The prevalence of depression within families is fueled by other behaviors that are byproducts of experiences faced as an immigrant in America. As a result, these behaviors affect their relationships with others. Nigeria is more of a tribalistic country compared to the individualistic society, and there are multiple instances of this within the Chimamanda Adichie’s novel, Americanah.

Ifemelu was depressed within her first year of immigration (Chapter 15, pg 193). She goes from Nigeria where everyone essentially works together in their daily lives, to America, where everyone follows a “on their own” mindset. This is an example of the beliefs of tribalistic countries versus those of individualistic countries. Other ways depression had manifested into Ifemelu’s first year was the observation that race did not exist to her until she came to America. She describes upon returning to Nigeria that her race disappeared when she stepped off of the plane.

Ifemelu also experienced the struggles in paying for rent, felt homesick as she suffered from lack of social life/activity. Adichie writes, “Between her and what she should feel, there was a gap. She cared about nothing. She wanted to care, but she no longer knew how; it had slipped from her memory, the ability to care. Sometimes she woke up flailing and helpless, and she saw, in front of her and behind her and all around her, an utter hopelessness. She knew there was no point in being here, in being alive, but she had no energy to think concretely of how she could kill herself” (Adichie, 192).

Another character who was directly affected by depression was Dike, who attempted suicide in chapter 43. Ifemelu refused to believe in the possibility that he was depressed as she said, “He looked no different from before; there were no shadows under his eyes, no funereal air about him” (Adichie, 469). Dike’s depression was also fueled by his identity crisis in which he felt stressed between not knowing his father/having a positive father figure, and not understanding why he is different and treated differently by others.

Aunty Uju is another character who deals with behaviors linked to depression such as anxiety. Ifemelu notes that upon seeing her aunt in America, she had changed and become more stressed than she was before. This affects her relationships with Ifemelu and Dike as well as her relationships with her significant others.

In 2017, a study was conducted in order to whether there is a relationship between source-country individualism and depression among different immigrant groups, with results stating, “Immigrants who migrate from countries with low levels of individualism to a highly individualistic nation were found to be particularly vulnerable during their initial years after migration, highlighting the role that cultural shock may play” (Frank and Feng). The results essentially mean that those who come from a country with strong beliefs of individualism like Germany or South Africa, aren’t as depressed as those that come from a country with collectivists beliefs like Guatemala and Indonesia.

We decided our platform will follow a podcast and discuss Isabella’s family’s experience as immigrants. We chose this medium in particular because it addresses a real issue with a real story. We felt that an experience with depression and immigration would be difficult to script without a realistic perspective. We chose to do a podcast because it would answer questions directly and allow a conversational tone to relay the very real experience.