Anxiety Disorders and PTSD in Palestine: A systematic review

Abstract

Background The WHO reports that anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders worldwide. Most people who experience such events recover from them, but people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) continue to be severely depressed and anxious for months or even years following the event. Palestinians are especially at a higher risk for developing anxiety disorders and PTSD due to their chronic exposure to political violence, prolonged displacement, and others as a limited professional, educational, financial opportunities, and mental health services. This paper aims to provide a systematic review of the literature and established studies concerning Anxiety disorders besides PTSD in Palestine.Methods PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar was used to search for materials, for the critical analysis of empirical articles, the following aspects were considered: study type, sample, and the key findings. Results Twenty-four studies from Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) were included in this review. Five studies related to children, five related to Adolescent, three related to women, three related to physical diseased and four related to gender and age differences.Results showed that anxiety disorders and PTSD were one of the most common mental disorders in Palestine. Anxiety and PTSD develop from a complex set of risk factors, including genetics, personality, and life events. They are highly associated with poor quality of life and disability. The results indicate that a significant proportion of Palestinian experiencing serious psychological distress especially anxiety and PTSD. Therefore, a mental health policy for Palestinians must deal with several challenges. Distinct barriers including inconsistent availability of medications, absence of multidisciplinary teamwork, insufficient specialists, fragmented mental health system, and occupation need to be addressed.Conclusion As a primary prevention, the occupation should be considered as a main source of the anxiety and other mental health disorders in Palestine. Besides, there is a need to implement mental health care system through the multidisciplinary work and raising awareness regarding prevalent of mental disorders.