engleski

Strengthening psychological health in war victims and refugees

It may be clear ; taking care of large groups of refugees is not easy. Refugee workers tend to be overwhelmed by the experiences told to them by the refugees. Although it may be human to feel pity for the survivor and having the feeling to undo the horrible things to them, it is not a professional attitude. In refugees, grief and anger prevail and refugee workers get confronted with those emotions, whether they are on the surface or hidden inside the individual: they are there. Probably, the most prevalent reaction to these anger and grief reactions is to label them as posttraumatic stress disorder. The last twenty years, PTSD is on the front page and it is strongly believed that discussing the traumatic experiences is helpful. That may be the case, but in general such intensive kinds of therapy are only indicated for patients with the true psychiatric disorder of PTSD. In a larger group of refugees, people are more helped by an active approach, using the coping strategies and skills of the people. In a community approach, it is necessary to strengthen the natural tendency of people to seek help with each other by restructuring and reorganizing their social interactions, in which traumatic experiences might be discussed. After that they should be helped to get active in daily activities, as this will be re-establishing their self-confidence and self-respect. Education may be a part of that process.

large group, refugees, PTSD

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