[Psychological disorders after political imprisonment in East Germany--attitude of victims].

In an exploratory study we examined 55 patients who had been politically imprisoned in the GDR for at least six weeks and suffered from enduring mental sequelae of that imprisonment. Views of the patients were assessed by means of standardized open questions and rating scales. Patients reported on stressful conditions in prison, fears concerning the uncertain end of imprisonment, as well as on helpful aspects during and after imprisonment. In a cluster analysis two groups were separated: one group that found social relationships helpful for coping with their experiences and another one that did not feel helped by anybody in coping, 28% of the patients stated that the symptoms were not mainly due to experiences during imprisonment; 20% saw general positive effects of imprisonment on their life. Views of the patients were correlated with other variables such as psychopathological symptoms. The relevance of the findings is discussed briefly.