The Impact of Detention on the Health of Asylum Seekers

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trine Filges ◽  
Edith Montgomery ◽  
Marianne Kastrup

Objectives: This review assesses the evidence about the effects of detention on the mental and physical health and social functioning of asylum seekers. Method and Analysis: We followed Campbell Collaboration guidelines to conduct a systematic review. Meta-analytic methods were used to quantitatively synthesize the study results. Results: Primary study effect sizes for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety, while the asylum seekers were still detained lies in the range 0.35–0.99, all favoring the nondetained asylum group. Author’s Conclusions: There is some evidence to suggest an independent adverse effect of detention on the mental health of asylum seekers. The conclusions should however be interpreted with caution as they are based on few studies. More research is needed in order to fully investigate the effect of detention on mental health.

2020 ◽  
pp. bmjmilitary-2020-001622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic Murphy ◽  
C Williamson ◽  
J Baumann ◽  
W Busuttil ◽  
N T Fear

IntroductionData are emerging showing the adverse consequences on mental health of the general public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about the needs of veterans with pre-existing mental health difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsData were collected through a cross-sectional online survey from a randomly selected sample (n=1092) of military veterans who have sought help for mental health difficulties from a veteran-specific UK-based charity. The response rate was 25.2% (n=275). Participants were asked to complete a range of standardised mental health outcomes (post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, common mental health difficulties (CMDs): 12-Item General Health Questionnaire, difficulties with anger: 5-Item Dimensions of Anger Reactions—Revised and alcohol misuse: Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) and endorse a list of potential stressors related to changes to daily life resulting from COVID-19. Regression analyses were fitted to explore predictors of mental health severity.ResultsIt was observed that symptoms of common mental disorder and PTSD (69.3% and 65.0%, respectively) were the most commonly reported to have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Lack of social support and reporting increasing numbers of stressors related to COVID-19 were consistently associated with increasing severity of a range of mental health difficulties.ConclusionsOur findings suggest veterans who had pre-existing mental health difficulties prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 may be at increased risk of experiencing CMDs as a result of the pandemic. Intervening to improve levels of social support and offering practical guidance to better manage any additional stressors relating to the pandemic may provide strategies to help reduce the burden of mental health symptoms.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 432
Author(s):  
Athena Madan

<p class="Default">“Refugee war trauma” is a poor adjunct to post-traumatic stress, lacking context for a civilian survivor of war. The “therapeutic mission”, or consolidating a therapeutic agenda with political reconstitution, has its tensions: Such founders embody politics of “emotionology” (Humphrey, 2005, p. 205) bound largely to pharmaceuticals, from a land of “freedom” (where emphasis is on market) and “democracy” (where emphasis is on autonomy of choice, not accountability). Additionally, how people “cope” or “solve problems” is not universal: Therapy speaks of self-empowerment, self-actualisation, and self-control; reconciliation speaks of collective citizenship, national participation, and group reform. Instituting participation in rituals that ‘help” according to predefined norms of an American prescription to suffering speaks more to the globalisation of the American psyche (Watters, 2010; Venne, 1997) than of humanitarian relief. This paper looks at the absence of cultural and socio-political specificities within the dominant discourse on “war trauma”, that are however of ultimate relevance for people affected by war. Using a case example from my own practice with a Rwandan woman living now in Canada, I question the “helpfulness” of post-traumatic stress treatment with this instance of refugee war trauma, and the impact of power systems in mental health care. How can the therapeutic encounter, given its genesis in Eurocentric, patriarchal, enlightenment thought, pause to better consider its potential for injury, especially within contexts of post-colonial genocide? How to avoid a new “mission to civilise”? What tensions to note as the advent of “trauma counselling” seeks more global application and transnational legitimacy?</p>


Author(s):  
Jasim Anwar

With the ever-increasing number of natural disasters, it is important to understand the impact on the health and wellbeing of survivors, especially women. The reproductive and mental health of women contributes significantly to their overall wellbeing. The Chapter gives an overview of natural disasters with an emphasis on consequences of earthquakes of health and wellbeing of the survivors. It includes a critical review of published studies on psychological trauma and reproductive health following earthquake disasters. Among the psychological consequences of earthquakes, this chapter describes post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety. The last section of this chapter reviewed reproductive health in relation to the mental health consequences following natural disasters.


2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 677-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma k. Peconga ◽  
Marie Høgh Thøgersen

Background: The crisis in Syria has resulted in vast numbers of refugees seeking asylum in Syria’s neighboring countries and Europe. Refugees are at considerable risk of developing common mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Since the war, no systematic review has been conducted regarding the prevalence of these in the Syrian refugee group. Research is needed to develop strategies to improve the integration of Syrian refugees. Objective: This study provides a systematic review of peer-reviewed articles that feature originally collected data regarding the prevalence of post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety in adult Syrian refugees. Methods: The authors searched online databases (PsychInfo, PubMed, PILOTS) for peer-reviewed articles that used validated screening tools to provide mental health prevalence rate estimates in adult Syrian refugees. This article explores potential sources of heterogeneity, including individual risk factors such as demographic and environmental variables. Results: In total, 15 eligible studies provided cross-sectional data for 8176 adult Syrian refugees resettled in 10 countries, with significant variation in assessment and sampling methods. Combined, these studies indicate prevalence rates of 43.0% (range: 23.4–83.4%) for post-traumatic stress, 40.9% (range: 20–44.1%) for depression, and 26.6% (range: 19.30–31.8%) for anxiety morbidity in adult Syrian refugees. Larger and more rigorous surveys reported similar prevalence rates to studies with less rigorous designs, but vast heterogeneity in prevalence of morbidity persisted among all. Conclusions: Syrian refugees could be over 10 times more likely to develop post-traumatic stress and other disorders than the general population. Although there are limitations when comparing studies with different research methodologies, the results of this study suggest increased focus on adequate mental health support is necessary.


2013 ◽  
Vol 813 ◽  
pp. 217-220
Author(s):  
Yong Xin Gao

Is a huge coal mine in China, is also a State of psychological crisis intervention started later, mine will affect their mental and physical health in multiple ways, the impact could be short-lived, too, there may be long, and leads to severe mental suffering or mental disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and adjustment disorders. This analysis of coal mine emergency psychological assistance, submit cooperative, universality, such as scientific principles for emergency psychological assistance. At the same time the study of coal mine emergency psychological continuity, make secondary disaster measures taken do not appear.


Rescue Press ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
Walter De Luca ◽  
Yari Barnabino ◽  
Flavio Gheri ◽  
Enrico Lucenti

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the crucial role of nurses and their commitment to their work in facing the situation. Italy has seen a substantial increase in the number of requests for respiratory assistance, and nurses employed on emergency vehicles have been overwhelmed by the situation, with psychological and physical repercussions such as depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disease (PTSD). The study aims to assess the impact of the pandemic on nurses in the Local Emergency System (SET). Method Depression and PTSD via “Screening Questionnaire for Disaster Mental Health”. The questionnaire was distributed among Italian SET nurses with non-probability sampling between 1 December 2020 and 31 January 2021. Results A total of 441 Italian nurses participated in the study, with an average age of 43.28 years (SD ± 9.38) and average working experience in EMS of 11.68 years (SD ± 7.98). 6.12% of the participants worked in an Operations Centre (CO), 72.34% worked in local emergency services and 21.54% worked in both settings. 17.01% of the sample were at high risk for PTSD and 15.65% for depression.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (34) ◽  
pp. 2884-2887
Author(s):  
Ajay Kumar Joopaka ◽  
Molanguri Umashankar ◽  
Pingali Srilakshmi ◽  
Pradeep Sharma Telkapalli ◽  
Chinni Krishna Banoth ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Corona virus disease or the (COVID 19) has caused mental health problems in the general population, in people infected and hospitalised for the disease and in patients who have recovered from the disease physically but continue to suffer from lingering mental health problems. Studies have shown stress, depression, and anxiety in one third of the survivors. Similarly post-traumatic stress disorder has been reported to be around 13 % in the survivors of COVID 19. In this study, we wanted to assess the psychological symptoms in the survivors of Covid 19 patients, one month post discharge and also assess various factors associated with the same. METHODS A cross sectional telephonic survey of the patients one month following discharge was done to understand the psychological problems. Sociodemographic data was recorded on a semi structured proforma, whereas psychological distress was recorded on patient health questionnaire - 4 (PHQ - 4) and the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was screened for by the impact of event scale revised (IES - R). RESULTS Of the 200 patients evaluated, 46.8 % scored above 20 on the impact of event scale which was considered to be a positive screen for post-traumatic stress disorder. Moderate psychological distress was reported by 10.5 % and severe by 7.5 % as measured by PHQ - 4. Being married, having other family members effected by the infection and deaths in the family were some of the factors that were significantly associated with psychological distress and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. CONCLUSIONS Continued mental health support needs to be extended to members who are considered to have recovered and discharged from the hospital following the COVID 19 infection. KEY WORDS COVID 19, Psychological Symptoms, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 65-85
Author(s):  
Kristia Novia ◽  
Tita Hariyanti ◽  
Laily Yuliatun

Natural disasters are still a matter of the world until today. The events pose not only physical impact but also psychological impacts that leave deep sorrow and fear. The survivors of the disaster felt they were at a very unsettled condition, felt very fearful, felt agitated for uncertain circumstances, and became very easily panicked until they could experience anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This systematic review aims to identify the impact–effects often posed by natural disasters on the soul health of survivors. Data searching is done on the Proquest, Pubmed, Science Direct, Sage, and Scopus databases that were converged in the 2013 to 2019 ranges. The psychological impact experienced by the victims after natural disaster events are depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), fear, suicide experiments, and other mental health disorders such as mood changes and a loss of interest in an activity. Natural disasters can hurt the mental health of the victims. If the psychological problems that occur to the victims are not immediately addressed, the victims will fall on more mental severe disorder conditions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca M. Schwartz, PhD ◽  
Patricia Rothenberg, BA ◽  
Samantha M. Kerath, MS ◽  
Bian Liu, PhD ◽  
Emanuela Taioli, MD, PhD

 Objective: To examine the impact of Hurricane Sandy on the mental health and substance use of residents of the Rockaways, which is a lower income, ethnically diverse region of NYC that was devastated by the hurricane. Design: Prospective, cross sectional. Setting: Rockaways, Queens, NYC community residents. Participants: From October 2013 to April 2015, 407 adult residents of the Rockaways completed self-report, validated measures of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms as well as indicators of substance use (alcohol, illicit substance, and tobacco use) and exposure to Hurricane Sandy. Main Outcome Measures: Depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, alcohol use, illicit substance use, and tobacco use. Results: Differences in exposure scores on outcomes were compared using Wilcoxon tests. Associations between hurricane exposure (categorized into “personal” and “property” exposure) and outcomes were investigated using logistic regression, adjusting for demographic covariates, mental health history, and time since hurricane. The study participants were predominately female (57.5 percent) and black (63.9 percent) and average age was 44.7 years. Multivariable results showed that property exposure scores were positively associated with increased risks of mental health difficulties across all three mental health symptom outcomes, but not substance use. Increased personal and total exposures were also significantly associated with increased Posttraumatic Stress Disorder symptoms. Substance use variables were not significantly associated with any of the hurricane exposure indicators. Conclusions: The present study quantifies the lasting impact that Hurricane Sandy has had on the mental health of Rockaways residents indicating the need for continued recovery efforts and increased mental health service provision in this vulnerable region. 


Reports ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Joana Proença Becker ◽  
Manuel João Quartilho

For more than 150 years, traumatic stress has been a recurrent topic of medical and psychological studies, in which war-related experiences remain to be addressed. Although veterans have been considered a high-risk group for the development of stress-related diseases, the impact of aging on the trauma process is an unexplored field. This study aimed to analyze the aging-related factors that may influence the emergence of traumatic stress symptoms in war veterans. The clinical data of 29 Colonial War Portuguese veterans were verified in order to identify the main diagnoses, and the frequency of health service use. Through thematic analysis of the transcripts of 10 interviews with veterans diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the main symptoms and factors that led them to mental health services were identified. In addition, a literature review on mental health and psychological trauma was conducted to provide an overview of the knowledge on this topic. Aging seems to be an opportunity to face conflicts which have been kept hidden throughout veterans’ lives. Social stigmatization and the non-recognition of traumatic stress as a disease influenced the Portuguese veterans’ silence, which could be broken with the aging process. Retirement, physical illness, death of close friends or family members, and loss of autonomy may contribute to the onset of trauma-related symptoms.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document