Probable Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Disability in Cambodia (original) (raw)
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Reliable population-based epidemiological data of Cambodian mental health is lacking. This study identifies the prevalence of and factors associated with anxiety, depression and PTSD in Cambodian adults. A nationally representative sample of Cambodian adults (N = 2690) was interviewed utilizing the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (assessment of PTSD symptoms) and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (assessment of symptoms of anxiety and depression). Respondents expressed high rates of anxiety (27.4%), depression (16.7%) and PTSD (7.6%). Correlations between symptoms and sociodemographic markers varied in significance. Women had significantly higher rates of mental health symptoms than men. Women who were in debt, widowed or divorced and had low levels of education were the most likely to report symptoms. These findings can inform Cambodian mental health policies and development strategies, especially targeting the most vulnerable groups.
Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 2012
This article describes a culturally sensitive assessment tool for traumatized Cambodians, the Cambodian "Somatic Symptom and Syndrome Inventory" (SSI), and reports the outcome of a needs assessment conducted in rural Cambodia using the instrument. Villagers locally identified (N = 139) as still suffering the effects of the Pol Pot genocide were evaluated. All 139 had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as assessed by the PTSD Checklist (PCL), and they had elevated SSI scores. The severity of the SSI items varied by level of PTSD severity, and several items-for example, dizziness, dizziness on standing, khyâl (a windlike substance) attacks, and "thinking a lot"-were extremely elevated in those participants with higher levels of PTSD. The SSI was more highly correlated to self-perceived health (Short Form Health Survey-3) and past trauma events (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire) than was the PCL. The study shows the SSI items to be a core aspect of the Cambodian trauma ontology. [assessment, PTSD, somatization, cultural syndromes, Cambodia, dizziness] This article reports on the results of a needs assessment survey of rural Cambodians that was undertaken by the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-CAM) as part of their Victims of Torture (VoT) project, which was conceived by Mr. Youk Chhang, the Director of DC-CAM, and implemented by the third and fourth authors, who were the VoT project team leaders. The purpose of this project was to document experiences under the Khmer Rouge, to identify rural
Special Report-Mental Health and Human Rights in Cambodia
Fordham International Law Journal, 2012
The views expressed herein remain those of the authors and are not reflective of the official position of Fordham Law School or Fordham University. The Report was first edited by the staff of the Fordham International Law Journal and was published as Mental Health and Human Rights in Cambodia, 35 FORDHAM INT'L L.J. 4 895-967 (2012). The substance of this printed report is the same, save for the addition of photos, captions, and other design elements. All photos on the front cover and all those that appear inside the report are by Arantxa Cedillo. Photos on the back cover are by Arantxa Cedillo,
Mental health survey among landmine survivors in Siem Reap province, Cambodia
Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 2012
Many survivors of the Khmer Rouge period in Cambodia and the subsequent war with Vietnam have now returned to Cambodia. In this two-stage household cluster survey in Siem Reap Province in Cambodia, we explored the mental health consequences on 166 landmine injury survivors selected from 1000 household in 50 clusters and an oversample of all landmine survivors. We found a prevalence of anxiety of 62% for all respondents, 74% for depression, and 34% for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These prevalences were statistically significantly higher than among the adult population who had not been injured by landmines. These data underscore the importance of providing mental health care services for the people in Siem Reap Province in Cambodia who have been injured by landmines.
Equipo de Estudios Comunitarios y Acción Psicosocial, 2011
In order to transform Cambodian society, a more holistic vision of social reconstruction is required; one that includes restorative, socioeconomic, political and psychosocial aspects among others. This chapter seeks to address this vision by offering insights to improve and extend the scope of transitional justice in Cambodia. The Court could contribute to achieve that vision. NGOs, with their local perspective and technical experience, are also well-suited to take on a major role. However, taken separately, the ECCC and NGOs are still underfunded and lack expertise in aspects such as psychological support. Thus, they are limited in their ability to fully satisfy the needs of justice for the Cambodian people. The government has a role to play in ensuring that the population has access to, for example, public psychological services to heal the wounds of the past. Therefore, for transformation to be fully attained, all actors including the ECCC, the NGOs, and the government need to work in concert multiplying activities in order to implement integrated transitional justice programs. Suggested Citation: Strasser, J., Poluda, J., Balthazard, M., Om, C., Yim, S., Im, S., … Sperfeldt, C. (2011). Engaging communities—easing the pain: Outreach and psychosocial interventions in the context of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. In K. Lauritsch & F. Kernjak (Eds.), We need the truth: Enforced disappearances in Asia (pp. 146–159). Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Equipo de Estudios Comunitarios y Acción Psicosocial.
Calming the mind: Healing after mass atrocity in Cambodia
Transcultural Psychiatry, 2015
After catastrophic events in which people's survival has been threatened, as happened during the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia 1975-1979, some continue to suffer from painful mental symptoms. Surveys carried out in Cambodia based on Western diagnostic categories have found a high prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety symptoms in the population. This study explored Cambodian approaches to healing trauma, examining the ways in which Cambodians appeal to elements of Buddhism in their efforts to calm their minds, situating this mode of coping in the context of broader Khmer Buddhist practice and understandings. Western psychology may have much to learn from local, contextualised methods of dealing with the aftermath of trauma, including Khmer understandings of distress and approaches to relief. Methods of assessment and treatment of distress cannot be transposed wholesale from one cultural setting to another but require considerable cultural adaptation. This kind of cultural interchange may give rise to innovative, hybrid discourses and methods that may have much to offer in the support of victims of organised violence.
Desire for Revenge and Attitudes Toward the Khmer Rouge Tribunal Among Cambodians
Journal of Loss and Trauma, 2008
This study examined determinants of desire for revenge among survivors of the Khmer Rouge (KR) regime and its impact on attitudes toward the upcoming KR justice tribunal. The KR genocide resulted in the deaths of approximately 2 million Cambodians. Almost 30 years later, a UN-ratified tribunal is finally about to get under way to put on trial the few remaining leaders of the KR regime. One hundred thirty survivors of the KR regime currently living in Cambodia were administered a broad set of measures relevant to trauma-related adjustment and attitudes toward the upcoming KR tribunal in a structured interview format. Access to social support during the KR regime, current socioeconomic status, benefit-finding-related coping, and trauma disclosure were shown to be unique determinants of desire for revenge. Desire for revenge, in turn, was predictive of more favorable attitudes toward the KR tribunal. The contribution of these findings to the existing literature on desire for revenge in the context of mass-level traumatic victimization and its implications for justice tribunals are discussed.
Adolescent survivors of massive childhood trauma in cambodia: Life events and current symptoms
Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1992
Cambodian adolescents who survived massive trauma as children were studied to examine the relation of current trauma symptoms to sex, age, trauma exposure, and other current symptoms. Exposure to traumatic life events was expected to be very high, to relate to age and to other symptoms of current psychological functioning. Questionnaires assessed traumatic life events, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychiatric symptoms, and current functioning. Results document high levels of stress exposure and current trauma symptoms. Based on self-reports of PTSD symptoms, 37% of the subjects were estimated to fulfill DSM-III-R criteria for PTSD. Trauma symptoms were correlated with exposure (r = .31), although not with symptoms of depressed mood, anxiety, or dissociation. Age was related to high levels of recollected trauma exposure (r = .56). Further studies are needed to identify factors associated with better outcomes and to plot the differential course of PTSD symptom clusters over time. KEY WORDS: post-traumatic stress disorder; Cambodian adolescents. 1Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Box 95, University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic, Harvard Street at East River Road, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455. 2Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455. 3Midpoint: Post-Trauma Psychological Services, P.A. Burnsville, Minnesota. 4Folwell Junior High School, Minneapolis, Minnesota.