How Brexit impacts EU citizens' mental health and wellbeing: research findings.

Teodorowski, Piotr; Woods, Ruth; Czarnecka, Magda; Kennedy, Catriona

Abstract

Our study shows that the Brexit campaign, referendum and subsequent political discourse have damaged EU citizens' wellbeing, primarily through undermining their integration into Scottish society. They have been left feeling unwanted, unwelcome, marked out as different and treated as inferior. They are concerned with the uncertainty around Brexit, reducing their ability to visualise their future in Scotland. Most saw Scotland and the UK as open, welcoming countries before the 2016 referendum, increasing their sense of shock and loss. Thus, we argue that the mental health of the EU citizens is important not only in its own right, but also as a barometer of integration and cohesion in Scotland. To heal EU citizens is to go some way in healing Scotland as a whole. Scotland has a critical advantage over the rest of the UK given its 'Remain' majority, but still faces challenges that need to be tackled on national and local levels. Key messages include: EU citizens' mental health and wellbeing are being impacted by Brexit; their mental health and wellbeing provides a window into the health of our nation, in relation to integration and cohesion; Scotland holds a critical advantage over the rest of UK, but still faces challenges.

Citation

TEODOROWSKI, P., WOODS, R., CZARNECKA, M. and KENNEDY, C. 2019. How Brexit impacts EU citizens' mental health and wellbeing: research findings. Aberdeen: Robert Gordon University [online]. Available from: http://www.rgu.ac.uk/brexit-mental-health-research-findings

• Report Type: Research Report
• Online Publication Date: Jun 12, 2019
• Publication Date: Jun 30, 2019
• Deposit Date: Feb 7, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 5, 2020
• Publisher: Robert Gordon University
• Keywords: Brexit; Mental health; Wellbeing; EU citizens; Scotland; Anxiety
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/845732
• Publisher URL: http://www.rgu.ac.uk/brexit-mental-health-research-findings