Depression In Afghan Refugees

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hopelessness, sadness, and loneliness (Alemi et al., 2013). Of the 2005 Afghan refugee and asylee individuals who were counted in the seventeen studies that were reviewed, over 50% of those studies conducting quantitative data reported depression as being relatively high while the qualitative studies listed depression as a symptom experienced in high frequencies among participants (Alemi et al., 2013). The U.S. study samples included in this study focused on afghan refugees from women community groups, aging adults at a senior center, and mixed male and females groups ranging from adolescents to adults (Alemi et al., 2013). A more detailed investigation of depression in resettled Afghan refugees is demonstrated in 2010 in which a qualitative…show more content…
Psychological distress, managed by psychotherapy methods are primarily used in Western countries, where the criteria and a set of standards of diagnosis and treatment originate from a Western standpoint. This proves to be a problem when assessing refuges, the majority of which come from non-western countries, as they have varying views of rationalizing and responding to their psychological distress that differ from Western treatment models (Ichikawa, Nakahara, & Wakai, 2006; Morioka-Douglas, Sacks, & Yeo, 2004; Alemi et al.2013). Much of the research in relation to Afghan refugees tends to review their experiences through clinical surveys taken in part from the DSM-IV (SCID), Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-25 or the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and only a handful have used ASCL in their studies. (Ichikawa et al. 2006 p248). Some of the concerns behind documenting such a disorder through these methods are that many of the items listed in the survey could be misunderstood or disconnected on a sociocultural…show more content…
Recognizing refugees’ resiliency in the face of trauma and drawing upon it can empower the individual to better acculturate into their host community. and healthcare professionals assisting refugees coping with depression and/or PTSD should identify with the need to comprehend their clienteles’ understanding about such conditions. Suggestions would be to provide more cultural sensitivity training among mental health care providers with a more acute focus on outward factors related to resettling and how they affect their clients’ wellbeing.

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