Mental health and trauma in asylum seekers landing in Sicily in 2015: a descriptive study of neglected invisible wounds

Abstract

BackgroundIn 2015, Italy was the second most common point of entry for asylum seekers into Europe after Greece. The vast majority embarked from war-torn Libya; 80,000 people claimed asylum that year. Their medical conditions were assessed on arrival but their mental health needs were not addressed in any way, despite the likelihood of serious trauma before and during migration. Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), in agreement with the Italian Ministry of Health, provided mental health (MH) assessment and care for recently-landed asylum seekers in Sicily. This study documents mental health conditions, potentially traumatic events and post-migratory living difficulties experienced by asylum seekers in the MSF programme in 2014–15.MethodsAll asylum seekers transiting the 15 MSF-supported centres were invited to a psycho-educational session. A team of psychologists and cultural mediators then provided assessment and care for those identified with MH conditions. Potentially traumatic events experienced before and during the journey, as well as post-migratory living difficulties, were recorded. All those diagnosed with MH conditions from October 2014 to December 2015 were included in the study.ResultsAmong 385 individuals who presented themselves for a MH screening during the study period, 193 (50%) were identified and diagnosed with MH conditions. Most were young, West African males who had left their home-countries more than a year prior to arrival. The most common MH conditions were post traumatic stress disorder (31%) and depression (20%). Potentially traumatic events were experienced frequently in the home country (60%) and during migration (89%). Being in a combat situation or at risk of death, having witnessed violence or death and having been in detention were the main traumas. Lack of activities, worries about home, loneliness and fear of being sent home were the main difficulties at the AS centres.ConclusionMH conditions, potentially traumatic events and post-migratory living difficulties are commonly experienced by recently-arrived ASs, this study suggests that mental health and psychosocial support and improved living circumstances should be integrated into European medical and social services provided by authorities in order to fulfil their humanitarian responsibility and reduce the burden of assimilation on receiving countries.

Migrants’ and refugees’ health status and healthcare in Europe: A scoping literature review

“…A German study found an association between depressive symptoms and migration status in the older migrant populations (19). A more recent study described the mental health condition of asylum seekers who passed through Médecins sans Frontières clinics in Sicily between October 2014 and December 2015 and, when invited, presented themselves for mental health screening (20). Of the 385 who were screened, most were young men who had left their home countries in West Africa more than a year prior to arrival.…”

Migrants’ and refugees’ health status and healthcare in Europe: A scoping literature review

“…A German study found an association between depressive symptoms and migration status in the older migrant populations (18). A more recent study described the mental health condition of asylum seekers who passed through Médecins sans Frontières clinics in Sicily between October 2014 and December 2015 and, when invited, presented themselves for mental health screening (19). Of the 385 who were screened, most were young men who had left their home countries in West Africa more than a year prior to arrival.…”

“…The most common mental health conditions were post-traumatic stress disorder (31%) and depression (20%). Most of the potentially traumatic events were reported to have been experienced in the home country (60%) and during the journey (89%), but the trauma of being a refugee was also reported, with activity deprivation, worries about people who were left behind, loneliness and fears of being sent back (19).…”

The Ethnographical Essay: Cine Club in the Refugee Camp – the Story of a Double Empowerment

“…The camp nurse told me that all of them should go to therapy, but there are no funds and communication is limited (they do not speak Italian). This information is confirmed by the data provided by physicians working with the asylum seekers (Nosè et al 2017;Crepet et al 2017). For this reason, I have decided that traumatic and difficult issues will constitute a minuscule part of our conversations and that the movies will consist mostly of comedies.…”

“…16 Two main French charity organizations -the frame for the medical help. 17 The most often we can find the studies analyzing such topics as the health or the mental health of the refugees (Cernovsky 1988;Brown, Schale, Nilsson 2010;Crepet et al 2017;Centre Primo Levi 2018). 18 This is probably the most often researchers (even those who are mentioning the field study and ethnography) are working based on the interviews with the volunteers.…”