Post-traumatic Stress Reaction and Internally Displaced Persons
A Psychosocial Approach
Abstract
Abstract Views: 292The concept of involuntary displacement inside the country is growing day by day. Globally, researchers have suggested that due to prolonged internal displacement the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) usually suffer from mental health issues. The current study was carried out with the purpose of investigating the psychosocial reactions of trauma in IDPs, who were subjected to displacement due to the military operation in the region, with no concurrent aim of diagnosing them with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It was a cross-sectional study and 104 (M= 31.20, SD=9.32) IDPs were sampled for it. Post-traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS) was administered on IDPs. The findings revealed that around 17% of them showed severe symptoms. The women were at more risk for PTSD as compared to men. Although no significant differences were found in both genders when it was about impairment in daily life functioning and both were equally affected. The satisfaction of life was decreased; too, on many symptoms results were significant. It was revealed that symptom severity decreased when the duration of displacement increased. The results were described according to cultural manifestation.
Downloads
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
Asghar, N. (2013). Adverse impact of militancy on the development of children in FATA. TIGAH: A Journal for Peace and Development, 3, 1–17.
Aslam, M. (2012). Gender-based explosions: The nexus between Muslim masculinities, jihadist Islamism and terrorism. Retrieved from https://collections.unu.edu/view/UNU:2519
Bilanaskis, N., & Pappas, E. E. (1996). War refugees in a refugee camp: The impact of war stress on mental health. European Psychiatry, 11 (4), 372–373.
Breslau, N. (2002). Epidemiologic studies of trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other psychiatric disorders. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 47, 923–929.
de Jong, J. T., Komproe, I. H., Van Ommeren, M., El Masri, M., Arays, M., … Somasundaram, D. (2001). Lifetime events and posttraumatic stress disorder in 4 post conflict settings. Journal of the American Medical Association, 286, 555–562.
Ergun, D., Cakici, M. & Cakici, E. (2008). Comparing psychological responses of internally displaced and non-displaced Turkish Cypriots. Torture, 18(1), 20–28.
Foa, E. B. (1995). Manual of posttraumatic stress diagnostic scale. Minneapolis, MN: National Computer System.
FATA Research Centre (FRC). (2012). FRC Annual Security Report 2012. Islamabad: Author.
Fullilove, M. T. (1996). Psychiatric implications of displacement: Contributions from the psychology of place. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 153(12), 1516–1523.
Hamid, A. A., & Musa, S. A. (2010). Mental health problems among internally displaced persons in Darfur. International Journal of Psychology, 45(4), 278–285.
Hussain, M. (2006). Internally displaced persons in India's North. Economic and Political Weekly, 41(5), 391–393.
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). (2012). People internally displaced by conflict and violence. Retrieved from http://www.internaldisplacement.org/sites/default/files/publications/documents/2012-global-overview-corporate-en.pdf
Johnson, H., & Thompson, A. (2008). The development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in civilian adult survivors of war trauma and torture: A review. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 36–47.
Karl, A., Maltam, L. S., & Maercker, A. (2005). Meta analytic review of event-related potential studies in post-traumatic stress disorder. Biological Psychology, 71, 123–147.
Kessler, R. (2000). Posttraumatic stress disorder: The burden to the individual and to the society. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 61, 4–14.
Khan, S. (2014). Provision of health assistance to internally displaced persons of South Waziristan agency in camps. International Journal of Public Administration and Management Research, 2(3), 84–97.
Kinzie, J. D., Boehnlein, J. K., Leung, P. K., Moore, L. J., Riley, C., & Smith, D. (1990). The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder and its clinical significance among Southeast Asian Refugees. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 1567–1572.
Koenen, K. C., Stellman, S. D., Sommer, J. F., Stellman, J. M. (2008). Persisting posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and their relationship to functioning in Vietnam veterans: A 14-year follow-up. Journal of Traumatic Stress. 21, 49–57.
Malik, M. L., Connor, K. M., Sutherland, S. M., Smith, R. D, Davison, R. M., & Davidson, J. R. T. (1999). Quality of life and posttraumatic stress disorder: A pilot study assessing changes in SF-36 scores before and after treatment in a placebo-controlled trial of fluoxetine. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 12, 387–393.
Mehta, S., Mittal, P. K., & Swami, M. K. (2014). Psychosocial functioning in depressive patients: A comparative study between major depressive disorder and bipolar affective disorder. Depression Research and Treatment, 2014, 1–6. Doi: 10.1155/2014/302741
Merriam-Webster Incorporated. (1999). Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). Springfield, MA: Author. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pashtun .
Michulta, D., Blanchard, E., & Kalous, T. (1998) Responses to civilian war experiences: Predictors of psychological functioning and coping. Journal of Trauma Stress, 11, 571–7.
Miller, E. K., Weine, S. M., Ramic, A., Brkic, N., Bjedic, Z. D. ... Worthingdon, G. (2002). The relative contribution of war experiences and exile-related stressors to levels of psychological distress among Bosnian refugees. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 15, 377–387.
Mohsin, Z. R. (2013). The crisis of internally displaced persons (IDPS) in the federally administered tribal areas of Pakistan and their impact on Pashtun women. TIGAH: A Journal for Peace and Development, 3, 92–117.
Moisander, P. A., & Edston, E. (2003). Torture and sequelae - A prison between victims from six countries. Forensic Science International, 137, 133–140.
Murthy, S., & Lakshminarayana, R. (2006). Mental health consequences of war: A brief review of research findings. World Psychiatry, 5 (1), 25–30.
Naz, M., Mahmood, Z., & Saleem, S. (2011). The impact of trauma on rescue 1122 workers. The Frontier Women University Journal of Social Sciences, 5(1), 134–148.
Newman, E., & Kaloupek, D. G. (2004). The risk and benefits of participating in trauma-focused research studies. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17, 383–39.
Ogle, C. M., Rubin, D. C., & Siegler, I. C. (2013). The impact of the developmental timing of trauma exposure on PTSD symptoms and psychosocial functioning among older adults. Developmental Psychology, 49(11), 2191–200.
Porter, M., & Haslam, N. (2005). Pre displacement and post displacement factors associated with mental health of refugees and internally displaced persons. Journal of American Medical Association, 294, 602–612
Riggs, D. S., Rothbaum, B. O., & Foa, E. B. (1995). A prospective examination of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in victims of non-sexual assault. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 10, 201–214.
Rothbaum, B. O., Foa, E. B., Riggs, D. S., Murdock, T. B., & Walsh, W. (1992). A prospective examination of post-traumatic stress disorder in rape victims. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 5, 455–475.
Royse, D., Rompf, E. L., Dhooper, S. S. (1993). Childhood trauma and adult life satisfaction. Journal of Applied Social Sciences, 17, 179–189.
Schiraldi, G. R. (2009). The post-traumatic stress disorder Sourcebook. New York: McGraw Hill Education.
Stevens, L. M., Lynm, C., & Glass, R. C. (2006). Posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of American Medical Association, 296, 614.
Sur, A., Bayram, Y., & Ozkan, M. (1998). A preliminary study about the effects of forced internal migration on mental health. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2, 83–8.
United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). (2010). Internally displaced people. Retrieved from http://www.unhcr.org/4dfa11499.pdf
Weiss, T. G. & Korn, D. A. (2006). Internal displacement: Conceptualization & its consequences. England: Routledge.