Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Zurich, Culmannstr. 8, CH - 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.
Eur J Public Health. 2011 Apr;21(2):184-9. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckq016. Epub 2010 Jul 14.
Asylum seekers (AS) and refugees often suffer from severe psychopathology in the form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As PTSD impacts memory functions, and as asylum applications rely on personal accounts, AS with PTSD are at more risk of being rejected than refugees.
We studied the mental health of failed asylum seekers (FAS, N = 40) and a matched sample of AS (N = 40). Participants were administered structured interviews on sociodemographics, flight, exile and standardized questionnaires on PTSD, anxiety, depression and pain.
Both samples were severely affected; >80% exhibited at least one clinically significant condition.
Given the great vulnerability of these individuals, long and unsettling asylum processes as practised in Western host countries seem problematic, as does the withdrawal of health and social welfare benefits. Finally, high rates of psychopathology amongst FAS indicate that refugee and humanitarian decision-making procedures may be failing to identify those most in need of protection.
寻求庇护者（AS）和难民经常遭受严重的精神病理学，表现为创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）。由于 PTSD 会影响记忆功能，而庇护申请依赖于个人陈述，因此患有 PTSD 的 AS 比难民更有可能被拒绝。
我们研究了失败的寻求庇护者（FAS，N=40）和匹配的 AS 样本（N=40）的心理健康状况。参与者接受了关于社会人口统计学、飞行、流亡和 PTSD、焦虑、抑郁和疼痛的标准化问卷的结构化访谈。
两个样本都受到了严重影响；>80%的人表现出至少一种临床上显著的疾病。
鉴于这些人的巨大脆弱性，西方国家实行的漫长而不安的庇护程序似乎存在问题，而且取消健康和社会福利也存在问题。最后，FAS 中的高精神病理学发病率表明，难民和人道主义决策程序可能未能识别最需要保护的人。
