Abstract
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2017 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.
We reviewed studies with prevalence rates of common psychological and 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. 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.
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.
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Naser Morina, Aemal Akhtar, Jürgen Barth and Ulrich Schnyder. Psychiatric Disorders in Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons After Forced Displacement: A Systematic Review, doi: 2018 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00433
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