THE ZUBIN FOUNDATION Improves the lives of Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities by reducing suffering and providing opportunities
CASE STUDIES ON SUPPORTING ETHNIC MINORITIES WITH MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS #6 AAFSEEN – LOW LITERACY CLIENT BACKGROUND Aafseen is a 45-year-old married female from Pakistan, staying in Hong Kong for more than 20 years, with her husband and 4 children. She came to HK after her marriage. She was born and brought up in Pakistan and dropped out of school after primary 2. She is able to read and write some basic Urdu. She is not able to read and write in English, but can speak some basic English, which she learnt from her friends in the community center. She likes to do embroidery on clothes and used to stitch dresses for herself and her family members; she never did it as a means of earning money; but rather as a hobby. She likes to do make up and get dressed up nicely as part of her routine. She is also a good cook. Aafseen’ s husband is a dominating person, who tends to get angry about small things and would beat her up frequently. As per her experience, DV was part of almost every marriage that she knew, so did not think of seeking any help for it. He was also very strict with the children and at times would use physical punishment as the method of discipline. The whole family was receiving CSSA assistance, her husband would only do part-time jobs but not very regularly. Aafseen is responsible for all the household work and taking care of her kids, while her husband would be responsible for all the outside work including buying groceries, shopping, visiting the social worker, etc. They have 3 daughters (aged 17, 15 and 11 years) and 1 son (10 years). Aafseen’ s support system included her sister (living in Pakistan) with whom she would talk over the phone regularly. She also had few friends in the neighborhood, but she would not generally share her stresses with them. She did not have much support from her brothers and her mother (who was very old and herself dependent on her brother). Aafseen’s husband lost his mother in early 2020 and he got stuck in Pakistan for over 9 months, due to the travel restrictions of COVID. By nature, Aafseen is a very anxious person. She has a tendency to worry about many things including but not limited to her children’s future, their health, behavior, and her husband’s interaction with them. However, her anxiety worsened when the travel restrictions were implemented. She was feeling very stressed and overwhelmed due to the additional responsibilities like shopping, interacting with social workers (for CSSA), and taking care of all the outside transactions. On a couple of occasions, she received a complaint about her son fighting with others and she started worrying about how she would be able to face all the things if the matter escalates further. So, she would not allow them to leave the house/go to the park; but rather expect them to just sit at home and play on their own. She started getting angry at them if they didn’t listen to her, she also slapped them on a couple of occasions. Her sleep was affected, and she also started getting a panic attack if she heard some news related to COVID. On one hand, she was happy that there is no DV as her husband is not around, but she was also worried about her husband not being able to come back as it was very difficult for her to take care of everything on her own. One time she was asked to visit the social worker in relation to CSSA assistance. She was extremely anxious as she thought that they might stop CSSA. She went there with one of her friends. The social worker felt that she was not emotionally stable and might benefit from some counseling support. ISSUES FACED BY THE CLIENT • Domestic violence • Extra responsibility in absence of husband • Anxious nature • Mental health symptoms - Anxiety, worry, anger • Increased irritability • Dealing with the issues like her children getting into fights with others • Anger control issues and child maltreatment The Zubin Mahtani Gidumal Foundation Limited, known as The Zubin Foundation (registered charity in Hong Kong - IR 91/12344). 小彬紀念基金會 (香港註冊慈善機構 IR 91/12344) 。 Unit 5F, High Fashion Centre, No. 1 Kwai Hei Street, Kwai Chung, Hong Kong 香港葵涌葵喜街 1 號達利國際中心 5 樓 F 室。 Tel 電話: +852 2540 9588 E-mail 電郵: info@zubinfoundation.org Website 網址: www.zubinfoundation.org © 2023 The Zubin Mahtani Gidumal Foundation Limited (registered charity in Hong Kong - IR 91/12344). All rights reserved.