Mental health of failed asylum seekers as compared to pending and temporarily accepted asylum seekers

BACKGROUND: 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. METHODS: 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. RESULTS: Both samples were severely affected; >80% exhibited at least one clinically significant condition. CONCLUSION: 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. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckq016 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-35409 Accepted Version Originally published at: Mueller, J; Schmidt, M; Staeheli, A; Maier, T (2011). Mental health of failed asylum seekers as compared with pending and temporarily accepted asylum seekers. European Journal of Public Health, 21(2):184189. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckq016 Mental health of asylum seekers Mental health of failed asylum seekers as compared to pending and temporarily accepted asylum seekers Julia Mueller, Ph.D. Martina Schmidt, M.A., Andrea Staeheli, Thomas Maier, M.D. 3 Corresponding author hiatry ch 1 (0)44 255 53 01 ll Julia Mueller, PhD Department of Psyc University Hospital Zurich Culmannstr. 8 CH 8091 Zuri Switzerland Phone +4 Telefax +41 (0)44 255 86 45 julia.mue [email protected] Running head: Mental health of asylum seekers ord count main text: 2987 W References: 39 1 Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. 2 Send reprint requests to this author. This study was supported in part by the Swiss Federal Office for Migration. Mental health of asylum seekers Mental health of failed asylum seekers as compared to pending and temporarily accepted asylum seekers