Abstract
Introduction: A large number of refugees suffer from mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the context of a special quota project, 1100 Yazidi women from Northern Iraq who had suffered extreme violence by the so-called Islamic State (IS) were brought to Germany to receive specialized treatment. This study aims to investigate the psychological burden and trauma-related symptoms of these female IS-victims from the perspectives of their care providers.Material and methods: Care providers with various professional backgrounds (N = 96) were asked to complete a self-developed questionnaire on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (very low) to 7 (very high) analyzing the psychological burden and trauma-related symptoms of the IS-traumatized women since their arrival in Germany. We controlled for potential confounders, namely the care providers' personal experiences of trauma and flight, by using chi-square tests.Results: The mean psychological burden for the whole period in Germany as perceived by care providers was M = 5.51 (SD = 0.94). As the main factors of distress the care providers reported: worries about family members in Iraq (M = 6.69; SD = 0.69), worries about relatives' possibilities to be granted asylum in Germany (M = 6.62; SD = 0.68), and uncertainties regarding their future (M = 5.89; SD = 1.02). The most prominent trauma-related psychological symptoms were nightmares (M = 6.43; SD = 0.54). The care providers reported that somatic complaints have been present among the refugees in the following manifestation: pain (M = 6.24; SD = 1.08), gastrointestinal complaints (M = 4.62; SD = 1.62), and dizziness (M = 4.40; SD = 1.59). The care providers' personal experiences of trauma and flight had no significant influence on their response behavior.Discussion: Care providers working with IS-traumatized female refugees evaluate the psychological burden and trauma-related somatic and psychological symptom loads of their clients as very high. The results of this study provide important information about the perceptions of care providers working in a refugee-services context and may provide insights for the progression of specialized treatment programs and interventions for highly traumatized refugees and culture-sensitive training programs for their care providers.
Highlights
A large number of refugees suffer from mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
The participants already worked in the Humanitarian Admission Program (HAP) for 16.3 3 months (SD = 6.54)
Each care provider was responsible for a mean of 20.39 refugees (SD = 27.66)
Summary
A large number of refugees suffer from mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), by the middle of September 2018, 68.5 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide. The term “refugee” can be defined as a person who was forced to leave his country of origin because of his race, religion, nationality or political beliefs. Returning to their home country is currently impossible for refugees [4, 5]. As Zipfel et al [9] have described, 10–40% of refugees suffer from mental disorders after experiencing serious traumatic events in their country of origin [10, 11]. Patients with PTSD tend to avoid situations that remind them of the traumatic event [17, 18]
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