Exploring the Mental Health Effects of Political Trauma With Newly Arrived Refugees

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4621101
AutoresPatricia J Shannon (0000-0002-8992-7210, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA), Elizabeth Wieling (0000-0003-1490-6471, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA), Jennifer Simmelink Mccleary (Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA), Jennifer Mccleary (0000-0003-0770-1777, Tulane University), Emily Becher (0000-0001-9600-9090, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA)
Año2015
Volumen25
Número4
Páginas443-457
Fecha de publicación2015-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaQualitative Health Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1049-7323 • E-ISSN: 1552-7557
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1049732314549475
PMID25185161
OpenAlexW2137042427
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas30
Referencias citadas34

We explored the mental health effects of war trauma and torture as described by 111 refugees newly arrived in the United States. We used ethnocultural methodologies to inform 13 culture-specific focus groups with refugees from Bhutan (34), Burma (23), Ethiopia (27), and Somalia (27). Contrary to the belief that stigma prevents refugees from discussing mental health distress, participants readily described complex conceptualizations of degrees of mental health distress informed by political context, observation of symptoms, cultural idioms, and functional impairment. Recommendations for health care providers include assessment processes that inquire about symptoms in their political context, the degree of distress as it is culturally conceptualized, and its effect on functioning. Findings confirm the cross-cultural recognition of symptoms associated with posttraumatic stress disorder; however, refugees described significant cultural variation in expressions of distress, indicating the need for more research on culture-bound disorders and idioms of distress

Culturally sensitive · Distress · Human rights · Mental distress · Mental health · Political science · Politics · Psychiatry · Refugee · Torture · Clinical Psychology · Education and experiences of immigrants and refugees · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research · Social Psychology