There has been an unprecedented upsurge in the number of refugees worldwide, the majority being located in low-income countries with limited resources in mental health care. This paper considers contemporary issues in the refugee mental health field, including developments in research, conceptual models, social and psychological interventions, and policy.

During psychotherapy a man describes a dream, “I am hiding in the cellar from soldiers who are searching for me. Overwhelmed by anxiety, I know that if they find me they will kill me on the spot . . . Then I am standing in line for selection; the smell of burning flesh is in the air and I can hear shots fired. Faceless and undernourished people with striped uniforms march away to the crematoriums. Then I am in a pit full of dead, skeletal bodies. I struggle desperately to bury the cadavers in the mud . . . I feel guilty for what has happened, though I do not know why.

Abstract

The clinical relevance of negative changes in cognitions about oneself, others, and the world is reflected in the diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the DSM-5 and complex posttraumatic stress disorder in the ICD-11. Although such changes in cognition have been posited to be especially relevant for traumatised refugees, few studies have examined this in refugee populations.

Psychological trauma is very common, understudied and consequently undertreated in Greece and many other countries. The word trauma comes from the Greek trauma (τραύμα) meaning trauma wound, alteration of trōma; akin to Greek titrōskein = to wound, tetrainein = to pierce. Although there is no data available on the prevalence rates of trauma or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Greece, there is no reason to believe that various types of traumatic experiences are not common phenomena in Greek society.