Psychotherapy in the Kurdistan region of Iraq (KRI): Preferences and expectations of the Kurdish host community, internally displaced- and Syrian refugee community

Böge, Kerem; Hahn, Eric; Strasser, Judith; Schweininger, Stephanie; Bajbouj, Malek; Karnouk, Carine

doi:10.1177/0020764021995219

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Stigma negatively impacts health seeking behavior for mental health care [ 33 ]. Based on previous studies Iraqis have often been reluctant to seek treatment for mental health fearing family and social marginalization [ 34 ]. In this setting it is therefore important to implement interventions to reduce both self-stigma and internalized stigma among people with mental health disorders and stigma among families and caregivers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the mental health needs of Yazidi adolescents and young adults in an Iraqi Kurdi IDP Camp: a focus group study

Benoni,

Giacomelli,

Vegro

et al. 2024

Int J Equity Health

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Background Internally displaced people (IDP) in Iraq are 1.2 million (as March 2023). Protracted refugee status endangers the mental health, especially of minorities who survived persecution and conflict, such as the Yazidis. This study aims to identify the mental health needs of Yazidi adolescents and young adults (AYA) in the IDP camp of Bajed Kandala (Iraqi Kurdistan). Methods A focus group discussion (FGD) study was conducted between April and August 2022. The FGDs involved AYAs, as well as the staff of the clinic of the Bajed Kandala camp. An inductive approach was adopted referring to the ’theme’ as the unit of content analysis of the text. All FGDs were recorded and transcribed. The analysis was carried out independently by two researchers. The inter-rater agreement was assessed through the Cohen’s k. Results A total of 6 FGDs were conducted. The participants were 34 of whom 21 (61.8%) females with a median age of 18.5 years (IQR 17.0–21.0). A total of 156 themes were found as relevant to the objective of this study. Four main areas and twelve subareas of needs in mental health were identified. The interrater agreement over the main area and subareas was good (κ = 0.78 [0.95CI 0.69–0.88], κ = 0.82 [0.95CI 0.73–0.91], respectively). The four areas had a similar frequency: Activities (28.2%), Individual (27.6%), Social relationships (22.4%) and Places/setting (21.8%). The subareas ‘community’ and ‘internal resources’ were labelled as negative 85.7% and 61.9% of the time, respectively. These sub-areas referred to stigma and self-stigma towards mental health. The subarea ‘female condition’ was always considered as negative, as well as the subareas ‘camp’ and ‘tent’ referring to housing as an important social determinant of mental health. Conclusions Community stigma and self-stigma are two still important factors preventing the achievement of mental well-being. Alongside these, a gender gap in mental health was identified in the FGDs. These factors should be taken into account in order to guide future mental health interventions in refugee camps.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the mental health needs of Yazidi adolescents and young adults in an Iraqi Kurdi IDP Camp: a focus group study

Benoni,

Giacomelli,

Vegro

et al. 2024

Int J Equity Health

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“…29.3% of the global population is younger than 18 years. This population is especially vulnerable to external stressors resulting in immediate responses or later programming of mental disorders ( 23 , 24 ). Although the need to primarily protect this subpopulation is obvious, the availability of training of respective specialists and tailored interventions is widely lacking, especially in LMICs.…”

Section: Challenge 9: Child and Adolescence Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Editorial: The Nine Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health

Bajbouj

Hassan

et al. 2022

Front. Psychiatry

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Editorial on the Research Topic Global Mental Health in Times of Pandemic and MigrationGrand global challenges significantly impact mental health and well-being in vulnerable populations across the globe. Today, national health systems and infrastructures are often not sufficiently equipped to react effectively to these grand challenges' multiple and interrelated consequences. The World Health Organization has identified 13 urgent health challenges for the upcoming decade (see Table 1). From our perspective, nine of these challenges are crucial not only for global health but also for Global Mental Health. CHALLENGE 1: HEALTH IN CONFLICT AND CRISIS SETTINGSDisplacement due to conflict (such as in Syria, Yemen, the Central African Republic, Congo, South Sudan) or extreme violence (inflicted upon Rohingya) affected millions of people worldwide. As a direct consequence, the World Migration Report counted 272 million people as migrants (3.5% of the world's population). The global refugee population amounted to 25.9 million. The number of internally displaced people reached 41.3 million (1). These numbers are of relevance for mental health for two reasons: first, a significant proportion of refugees and migrants have been exposed to violence (2) and went through traumatic experiences [(3); Walther et al.] in their home countries or during the flight. Second, after arrival in the receiving countries, refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers experience a variety of postmigration stressors such as unclear legal status, unemployment, the absence of the core family, or the housing situation [(4); Hajak et al.]. These stressors and traumatic experiences before, during, and after flight are likely to impact incidence rates of stress-related (pooled prevalence 29.9%) and posttraumatic disorders [pooled prevalence: 39.8%; (5)].

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“…Finally, yet importantly, awareness about traumatizing events and mental illnesses must be raised among the population in order to improve psychotherapeutic care sustainably. In Iraq, as in the entire Middle East, there is great stigma regarding mental illness ( 28 , 35 ). IPP’s activities therefore include networking with local institutions and NGOs working in the health sector to stimulate public discussion among the population, create acceptance, and lower the threshold for seeking psychotherapy.…”

Section: Description Of the Proposed Innovation: Sustainable Training...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Life in the refugee camps is characterized by extremely poor living conditions. They do not offer sufficient infrastructure and health services to address the multiple needs, in spite of the activity of numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) active in the region ( 28 ). Mental illness is a common reason for seeking treatment, particularly among adult women in camps ( 29 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While care services are scarce in camps, many affected people seek help outside. However, in addition to the cost for treatment and transportation, the stigma of mental illness is a major barrier ( 28 ). Finally, yet importantly, after decades of conflict without an adequate psychosocial care system, a high number of mental illnesses can also be assumed in the host community.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Training of psychotherapists in post-conflict regions: A Community case study in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Beckmann¹,

Wenzel²,

Hautzinger³

et al. 2022

Front. Psychiatry

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The number of wars in the world is on the rise. A number of studies have documented the devastating impact on the public and especially public mental health. Health care systems in low- and lower-middle income countries that are frequently already challenged by the existing mental health services gap cannot provide the necessary care for those displaced by war with existing services. This is especially the case in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) after the invasion of the terror organization ISIS in 2014. Most projects in post-conflict areas focus on short term basic psychological services and do not contribute to sustainable long-term capacity building of mental health services. An “Institute for Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology” was therefore founded in order to train local specialists on a professional level with evidence-based methods adapted to culture and create sustainable long-term structures for psychotherapeutic treatment in the KRI. To achieve this, a number of measures were implemented, including the creation of a “Master of Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology” in collaboration with local communities and the regional University. Two cohorts of students have successfully finished the master’s program and a third cohort are expected to graduate in 2023. Improving the capacity of local health care services to provide low-barrier, professional psychotherapeutic care in post-conflict regions supported by the innovative model presented in this article can be expected to improve the burden of psychological problems and contribute to peacebuilding.

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Psychotherapy in the Kurdistan region of Iraq (KRI): Preferences and expectations of the Kurdish host community, internally displaced- and Syrian refugee community

Cited by 7 publications

References 22 publications

Assessing the mental health needs of Yazidi adolescents and young adults in an Iraqi Kurdi IDP Camp: a focus group study

Assessing the mental health needs of Yazidi adolescents and young adults in an Iraqi Kurdi IDP Camp: a focus group study

Editorial: The Nine Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health

Training of psychotherapists in post-conflict regions: A Community case study in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

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