Post-traumatic stress disorder in refugee communities: The importance of culturally sensitive screening, diagnosis, and treatment

In the past several decades, millions of refugees fleeing conflicts across the globe have been resettled in other countries, including industrialized Western nations such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and Sweden. Many of these refugees have been exposed to severe and often repeated trauma in conflict zones, including combat, torture, sexual violence, and destruction of property. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), perhaps not surprisingly, seems to be a particularly prevalent condition among these refugees. This book discusses how PTSD manifests itself, sometimes differentially, in refugees, and the best practices on how to screen for and diagnose it, as well as treating it in a culturally sensitive fashion.