Does the act of migration provoke psychiatric breakdown? A study of Greek Cypriot immigrants

This article describes a community psychiatric survey of a random sample (n = 291) of Greek Cypriot immigrants living in London. Over three quarters of the immigrants were first generation. Information from the subject and from hospital case records were used to date previous episodes of psychiatric disorder. Datable episodes had occurred in 52 subjects. There was no evidence that the risk of breakdown was increased in the immediate aftermath of immigration. For 34 subjects who experienced their first illness after migration, the mean interval was 15 years. In only 9% did breakdown occur within 2 years of migration. The age-specific incidence of psychiatric disorder was the same as that seen in a native British sample. Although there were differences in the age of onset of first- and second-generation subjects, this was in the opposite direction to that expected if immigration appreciably provoked breakdown.