Fresh eyes on the European refugee crisis

Alisic, Eva; Letschert, R.M.

doi:10.3402/ejpt.v7.31847

Cited by 18 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We point out a substantial lack of data concerning the general mental health conditions of forcibly displaced populations in LMICs, which might be caused by different mechanisms ( 28 ): (1) stigma of mental disorders in developing countries, (2) disproportionate under-representation of several conflict-affected regions in the literature—such as Latin America, Central and Eastern Africa, Central Asia—(3) cultural or political barriers to assessment and implementation of mental health programs and policies such as insufficient funding of mental health research, (4) over-centralization of mental health resources, (5) severe shortage of adequately trained mental health staff, and, finally, (6) weak public health leadership in the field of mental health. The very few estimates about substance abuse, other mood and anxiety disorders, psychosis, or suicidality are higher than figures from the general population studies conducted in LMICs ( 13 , 14 , 76 – 84 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Psychiatric Disorders in Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons After Forced Displacement: A Systematic Review

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Protracted armed conflicts not only shape political, legal, and socio-economic structures, but also have a lasting impact on people's human migration. In 2017, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported an unprecedented number of 65.6 million individuals who were displaced worldwide as a result of armed conflicts. To date, however, little is known about these people's mental health status. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review of the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among forcibly displaced populations in settings of armed conflicts.Methods: We undertook a database search using Medline, PsycINFO, PILOTS, and the Cochrane Library, using the following keywords and their appropriate synonyms to identify relevant articles for possible inclusion: “mental health,” “refugees,” “internally displaced people,” “survey,” and “war.” This search was limited to original articles, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses published after 1980. We reviewed studies with prevalence rates of common psychiatric disorders—mood and anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, personality disorders, substance abuse, and suicidality—among adult internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees afflicted by armed conflicts.Results: The search initially yielded 915 articles. Of these references 38 studies were eligible and provided data for a total of 39,518 adult IDPs and refugees from 21 countries. The highest prevalence were for reported for post-traumatic stress disorder (3–88%), depression (5–80%), and anxiety disorders (1–81%) with large variation. Only 12 original articles reported about other mental disorders.Conclusions: These results show a substantial lack of data concerning the wider extent of psychiatric disability among people living in protracted displacement situations. Ambitious assessment programs are needed to support the implementation of sustainable global mental health policies in war-torn countries. Finally, there is an urgent need for large-scale interventions that address psychiatric disorders in refugees and internally displaced persons after displacement.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Psychiatric Disorders in Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons After Forced Displacement: A Systematic Review

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Given the increasing globalization of our world, we all interact on a daily basis with people from cultural backgrounds different from ours, and this is true for both our private and our professional lives. The “refugee crisis” Europe is currently struggling with (Alisic & Letschert, 2016 ; Turner, 2015 ) is just one of many manifestations of this development. In response to this reality, psychotherapists working with trauma survivors need to further develop their cultural competence and sensitivity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Culture-sensitive psychotraumatology

Schnyder

Bryant

Ehlers

et al. 2016

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundAlthough there is some evidence of the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) construct's cross cultural validity, trauma-related disorders may vary across cultures, and the same may be true for treatments that address such conditions. Experienced therapists tailor psychotherapy to each patient's particular situation, to the nature of the patient's psychopathology, to the stage of therapy, and so on. In addition, culture-sensitive psychotherapists try to understand how culture enhances the meaning of their patient's life history, the cultural components of their illness and help-seeking behaviors, as well as their expectations with regard to treatment. We cannot take for granted that all treatment-seeking trauma survivors speak our language or share our cultural values. Therefore, we need to increase our cultural competencies.MethodsThe authors of this article are clinicians and/or researchers from across the globe, working with trauma survivors in various settings. Each author focused on one or more specific cultural aspects of working with trauma survivors and highlighted the following aspects.ResultsAs a result of culture-specific individual and collective meanings linked to trauma and trauma-related disorders survivors may be exposed to (self-)stigma in the aftermath of trauma. Patients who are reluctant to talk about their traumatic experiences may instead be willing to write or use other ways of accessing the painful memories such as drawing. In other cultures, community and family cohesion are crucial elements of recovery. While awareness of culture-specific aspects is important, we also need to beware of premature cultural stereotyping. When disseminating empirically supported psychotherapies for PTSD across cultures, a number of additional challenges need to be taken into account: many low and middle income countries have very limited resources available and suffer from a poor health infrastructure.ConclusionsIn summary, culture-sensitive psychotraumatology means assuming an empathic and non-judgmental attitude, trying to understand each individual's cultural background.Highlights of the articleCultural sensitivity is required to successfully treat trauma survivors.Empirically supported treatments may need to be modified depending on the patient’s cultural background.In addition to talking, patients may write or use other ways of accessing the traumatic memories such as painting, dancing, or singing.In low and middle income countries, dissemination of evidence-based treatments is frequently impeded by limited resources and poor health infrastructure.Beware of cultural stereotyping!

show abstract

“…Developments with regard to human rights and the legal status of refugees became more explicit. At the height of the so-called 'European migrant crisis' or 'refugee crisis', Turner (2015) described the politics of deterrence and its detrimental effects in the context of the UK and Europe as a whole (see also Alisic and Letschert (2016) who describe an initiative to foster interdisciplinary collaboration of young researchers with the aim to influence European politics). In their review, Herlihy and Turner (2015) describe the role of lay assumptions on memory in legal hearings during the asylum process.…”

Section: Refugeesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A decennial review of psychotraumatology: what did we learn and where are we going?

Olff

Amstadter

Armour

et al. 2019

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

On 6 December 2019 we start the 10th year of the European Journal of Psychotraumatogy (EJPT), a full Open Access journal on psychotrauma. This editorial is part of a special issue/ collection celebrating the 10 years anniversary of the journal where we will acknowledge some of our most impactful articles of the past decade (also discussed below and marked with * in the reference list). In this editorial the editors present a decennial review of the field addressing a range of topics that are core to both the journal and to psychotraumatology as a discipline. These include neurobiological developments (genomics, neuroimaging and neuroendocrine research), forms of trauma exposure and impact across the lifespan, mass trauma and early interventions, work-related trauma, trauma in refugee populations, and the potential consequences of trauma such as PTSD or Complex PTSD, but also resilience. We address innovations in psychological, medication (enhanced) and technologyassisted treatments, mediators and moderators like social support and finally how new research methods help us to gain insights in symptom structures or to better predict symptom development or treatment success. We aimed to answer three questions 1. Where did we stand in 2010? 2. What did we learn in the past 10 years? 3. What are our knowledge gaps? We conclude with a number of recommendations concerning top priorities for the future direction of the field of psychotraumatology and correspondingly the journal.

show abstract

Fresh eyes on the European refugee crisis

Cited by 18 publications

References 10 publications

Psychiatric Disorders in Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons After Forced Displacement: A Systematic Review

Psychiatric Disorders in Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons After Forced Displacement: A Systematic Review

Culture-sensitive psychotraumatology

A decennial review of psychotraumatology: what did we learn and where are we going?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About