[Work psychopathology and migration].

Abstract

The author analyses the correlation between work psychopathology, migration and the role of the occupational physician. Migration was studied and analysed by many clinical psychiatrists, occupational psychiatrists and sociologists, who tried to investigate the possible consequences produced by this event on the psychological equilibrium, on social life and on working activities. It is unquestionable, according to the actual knowledge, that a strict correlation exists between work and psyche, or among the uneasiness of the work, cultural belonging and a psychopathology of the work. Work psycophatology appears to be the measurement of the repercussion of a dangerous work on human mental health and, consequently, could have a role in better adapting the man to his work. Therefore, in every work situation, the risk of a somatic or psycological, or even toxicological, pathology, must not be underevaluated. In a perspective of transcultural evaluation of the "migrant" worker who has to be introduced in a work environment, the knowledge of the "unspecific" health risks of the migrant, and of the cultural differences specifying the cultural value of work, becomes fundamental. Among the symptoms that require particular attention in the evaluation of a worker, the concept of fatigue is certainly fundamental and crucial. Consequently, it is necessary to safeguard the health of "the whole worker", not only acting on the physical and chemical occupational hazards, but also considering the relational and cultural risk factors.