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THE SYRIAN WAR AND POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
Corresponding Author(s) : Eid G. Abo Hamza
Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews,
Vol. 8 No. 2 (2020): March
Abstract
Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of posttraumatic distress disorder (PTSD) amongst Syrian whom lived in under the war.
Methodology: The study has utilized a survey to observe the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Syrian people who lived inside Syria during the Syrian conflict The survey uses the PTSD checklist for civilians (PCL-C), which measures both the severity of PTSD and the 3 symptoms of it in accordance with “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders†(DSM-IV) that are re-experiencing; avoidance; and hyperarousal. A sample of 600 random Syrian people participated in the current study.
Findings: The PTSD test results show a widespread of the trauma in Syria based on the result of the test as 53percent of the participants had symptoms corresponding to the recommended diagnosis, which is expected due to horrors of war and terrorism-related events.
Implications: Results suggest that it is imperative to provide intervention programs to treat PTSD symptoms among people who live in Syria. The participants' cultural and religious backgrounds should be taken into account in these programs.
The originality of the Study: This Syrian war research has contributed to a spike in symptoms of PTSD and depression among children in Syria.
Keywords
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- Abo Hamza, E., Elsantil, Y. G., Moustafa, A. A., & Abdelhadi, M. (2019). The prevalence of PTSD and depression among Gaza children. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, 7(6), 464 - 469. https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2019.7671 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2019.7671
- Acarturk, C., Cetinkaya, M., Senay, I., Gulen, B., Aker, T., & Hinton, D. (2018). Prevalence and predictors of posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms among Syrian refugees in a refugee camp. The Journal of nervous and mental disease, 206(1), 40-45. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000693 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000693
- American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®). American Psychiatric Pub. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
- Atwoli, L., Stein, D. J., Koenen, K. C., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2015). Epidemiology of posttraumatic stress disorder: prevalence, correlates and consequences. Current opinion in psychiatry, 28(4), 307–311. https://doi.org/10.1097/YCO.0000000000000167 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/YCO.0000000000000167
- Burri, A., & Maercker, A. (2014). Differences in prevalence rates of PTSD in various European countries explained by war exposure, other trauma and cultural value orientation. BMC research notes, 7, 407. doi:10.1186/1756-0500-7-407. https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-7-407 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-7-407
- Clark, I. A., & Mackay, C. E. (2015). Mental Imagery and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Neuroimaging and Experimental Psychopathology Approach to Intrusive Memories of Trauma. Front Psychiatry, 6, 104. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00104 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00104
- Dohrenwend, B. P., Turner, J. B., Turse, N. A., Adams, B. G., Koenen, K. C., & Marshall, R. (2006). The psychological risks of Vietnam for US veterans: a revisit with new data and methods. Science, 313(5789), 979-982. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1128944 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1128944
- El-Khani, A., & Calam, R. (2019). Promoting mental health for children and their caregivers affected by the Syrian conflict. In An International Perspective on Disasters and Children's Mental Health (pp. 301-322). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15872-9_15 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15872-9_15
- Gradus L. J. (2020). Epidemiology of PTSD - PTSD: National Center for PTSD. Retrived July 2020 from https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/essentials/epidemiology.asp
- Georgiadou, E., Zbidat, A., Schmitt, G. M., & Erim, Y. (2018). Prevalence of mental distress among Syrian refugees with residence permission in Germany: a registry-based study. Frontiers in psychiatry, 9, 393. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00393 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00393
- Gharib, M., Golembiewski, J., Moustafa, A. A. (2017). Mental Health and Urban Design - Zoning in on PTSD. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9746-x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9746-x
- Ghumman, U., McCord, C. E., & Chang, J. E. (2016). Posttraumatic stress disorder in Syrian refugees: A review. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 57(4), 246-253. https://doi.org/10.1037/cap0000069 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/cap0000069
- Heptinstall, E., Sethna, V., & Taylor, E. (2004). PTSD and depression in refugee children. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 13(6), 373-380. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-004-0422-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-004-0422-y
- Hoppen, T. H., & Morina, N. (2019). The prevalence of PTSD and major depression in the global population of adult war survivors: a meta-analytically informed estimate in absolute numbers. European journal of psychotraumatology, 10(1), 1578637. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2019.1578637 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2019.1578637
- Iyadurai, L., Visser, R. M., Lau-Zhu, A., Porcheret, K., Horsch, A., Holmes, E. A., & James, E. L. (2019). Intrusive memories of trauma: A target for research bridging cognitive science and its clinical application. Clin Psychol Rev, 69, 67-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2018.08.005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2018.08.005
- Karaman, M. A., & Ricard, R. J. (2016). Meeting the mental health needs of Syrian refugees in Turkey. The Professional Counselor, 6(4), 318. https://doi.org/10.15241/mk.6.4.318 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15241/mk.6.4.318
- Kazour, F., Zahreddine, N. R., Maragel, M. G., Almustafa, M. A., Soufia, M., Haddad, R., & Richa, S. (2017). Post-traumatic stress disorder in a sample of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 72, 41-47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2016.09.007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2016.09.007
- Leon, M., Osburn, H., Bellairs, T., (2018). Processing War: Similarities and Differences in PTSD Antecedents and Outcomes between Military and Civilian War Survivors. In Occupational Stress and Well-Being in Military Contexts. Published online; 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-355520180000016001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-355520180000016001
- Maercker, A., & Perkonigg, A. (2013). Applying an international perspective in defining PTSD and related disorders: comment on Friedman (2013). J Trauma Stress ;26(5):560–562. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21852 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21852
- Marmar, C. R., Schlenger, W., Henn-Haase, C., Qian, M., Purchia, E., Li, M., ... & Karstoft, K. I. (2015). Course of posttraumatic stress disorder 40 years after the Vietnam War: Findings from the National Vietnam Veterans Longitudinal Study. JAMA psychiatry, 72(9), 875-881. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0803 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0803
- Moustafa, A.A. (2013). Increased hippocampal volume and gene expression following cognitive behavioral therapy in PTSD. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7:747. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00747 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00747
- Myers, C.E., Moustafa, A. A., Sheynin, J., VanMeenen, K. M., Gilbertson, M. W., Orr,S. P., Beck, K. B., Pang, K. C. H., Servatius, R. J. (2013). Learning to obtain reward, but not avoid punishment, is affected by presence of PTSD symptoms in male veterans: Empirical data and computational model. Plos One, 8(8),72508. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0072508 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0072508
- National Center for PTSD (2012). Using the PTSD Checklist for DSM-IV (PCL). Available from http://www.vsias.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DP-063015_Using-the-PCL.pdf
- Onyedire, N. G., Ekoh, A. T., Chukwuorji, J. C., & Ifeagwazi, C. M. (2017). Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among firefighters: Roles of resilience and locus of control. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 32(4), 227-248. https://doi.org/10.1080/15555240.2017.1369885 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15555240.2017.1369885
- Pereira, M. G., Pereira, D., & Pedras, S. (2020). PTSD, psychological morbidity and marital dissatisfaction in colonial war veterans. Journal of Mental Health, 29(1), 69-76. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2018.1487532 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2018.1487532
- Perkins, J. D., Ajeeb, M., Fadel, L., & Saleh, G. (2018). Mental health in Syrian children with a focus on post-traumatic stress: a cross-sectional study from Syrian schools. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 53(11), 1231–1239. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-018-1573-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-018-1573-3
- Radell, M. L.,Myers, C. E., Sheynin, J., Moustafa, A. A. (2017). Computational models of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In A. Moustafa (Ed.) Computational models of Brain and Behavior. Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119159193.ch4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119159193.ch4
- Shelby, R. A., Golden-Kreutz, D. M., & Andersen, B. L. (2005). Mismatch of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and DSM-IV symptom clusters in a cancer sample: exploratory factor analysis of the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version. Journal of traumatic stress, 18(4), 347–357. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20033 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20033
- Steel, Z., Chey, T., Silove, D., Marnane, C., Bryant, R. A., & van Ommeren, M. (2009). Association of torture and other potentially traumatic events with mental health outcomes among populations exposed to mass conflict and displacement: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA, 302(5), 537–549. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2009.1132 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2009.1132
- Syrian Researchers. (27 March, 2016). In Facebook [Science website]. Retrieved March 30, 2016, from https://www.facebook.com/Syrian.researchers/posts/1013816942033276
- Veterans Affairs Canada (2008). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and War-Related Stress. Retrieved July 2020 from https://www.veterans.gc.ca/public/pages/publications/system-pdfs/ptsd_warstress_e.pdf.
- Wittchen, HU., Jacobi, F., Rehm, J., Gustavsson, A., Svensson, M., Jönsson, B. (2016). The size and burden of mental disorders and other disorders of the brain in Europe 2010. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol, 21: 655-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2011.07.018 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2011.07.018
- Yachouh, R. (2018). A Qualitative Investigation of the Mental Health Needs of Syrian Refugees and Immigrants (Doctoral dissertation).
- Yehuda, R., Hoge, C. W., McFarlane, A. C., Vermetten, E., Lanius, R. A., Nievergelt, C. M., ... & Hyman, S. E. (2015). Post-traumatic stress disorder. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 1, 15057. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2015.57 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2015.57
References
Abo Hamza, E., Elsantil, Y. G., Moustafa, A. A., & Abdelhadi, M. (2019). The prevalence of PTSD and depression among Gaza children. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, 7(6), 464 - 469. https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2019.7671 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2019.7671
Acarturk, C., Cetinkaya, M., Senay, I., Gulen, B., Aker, T., & Hinton, D. (2018). Prevalence and predictors of posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms among Syrian refugees in a refugee camp. The Journal of nervous and mental disease, 206(1), 40-45. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000693 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000693
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®). American Psychiatric Pub. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
Atwoli, L., Stein, D. J., Koenen, K. C., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2015). Epidemiology of posttraumatic stress disorder: prevalence, correlates and consequences. Current opinion in psychiatry, 28(4), 307–311. https://doi.org/10.1097/YCO.0000000000000167 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/YCO.0000000000000167
Burri, A., & Maercker, A. (2014). Differences in prevalence rates of PTSD in various European countries explained by war exposure, other trauma and cultural value orientation. BMC research notes, 7, 407. doi:10.1186/1756-0500-7-407. https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-7-407 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-7-407
Clark, I. A., & Mackay, C. E. (2015). Mental Imagery and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Neuroimaging and Experimental Psychopathology Approach to Intrusive Memories of Trauma. Front Psychiatry, 6, 104. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00104 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00104
Dohrenwend, B. P., Turner, J. B., Turse, N. A., Adams, B. G., Koenen, K. C., & Marshall, R. (2006). The psychological risks of Vietnam for US veterans: a revisit with new data and methods. Science, 313(5789), 979-982. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1128944 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1128944
El-Khani, A., & Calam, R. (2019). Promoting mental health for children and their caregivers affected by the Syrian conflict. In An International Perspective on Disasters and Children's Mental Health (pp. 301-322). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15872-9_15 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15872-9_15
Gradus L. J. (2020). Epidemiology of PTSD - PTSD: National Center for PTSD. Retrived July 2020 from https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/essentials/epidemiology.asp
Georgiadou, E., Zbidat, A., Schmitt, G. M., & Erim, Y. (2018). Prevalence of mental distress among Syrian refugees with residence permission in Germany: a registry-based study. Frontiers in psychiatry, 9, 393. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00393 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00393
Gharib, M., Golembiewski, J., Moustafa, A. A. (2017). Mental Health and Urban Design - Zoning in on PTSD. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9746-x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9746-x
Ghumman, U., McCord, C. E., & Chang, J. E. (2016). Posttraumatic stress disorder in Syrian refugees: A review. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 57(4), 246-253. https://doi.org/10.1037/cap0000069 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/cap0000069
Heptinstall, E., Sethna, V., & Taylor, E. (2004). PTSD and depression in refugee children. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 13(6), 373-380. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-004-0422-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-004-0422-y
Hoppen, T. H., & Morina, N. (2019). The prevalence of PTSD and major depression in the global population of adult war survivors: a meta-analytically informed estimate in absolute numbers. European journal of psychotraumatology, 10(1), 1578637. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2019.1578637 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2019.1578637
Iyadurai, L., Visser, R. M., Lau-Zhu, A., Porcheret, K., Horsch, A., Holmes, E. A., & James, E. L. (2019). Intrusive memories of trauma: A target for research bridging cognitive science and its clinical application. Clin Psychol Rev, 69, 67-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2018.08.005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2018.08.005
Karaman, M. A., & Ricard, R. J. (2016). Meeting the mental health needs of Syrian refugees in Turkey. The Professional Counselor, 6(4), 318. https://doi.org/10.15241/mk.6.4.318 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15241/mk.6.4.318
Kazour, F., Zahreddine, N. R., Maragel, M. G., Almustafa, M. A., Soufia, M., Haddad, R., & Richa, S. (2017). Post-traumatic stress disorder in a sample of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 72, 41-47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2016.09.007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2016.09.007
Leon, M., Osburn, H., Bellairs, T., (2018). Processing War: Similarities and Differences in PTSD Antecedents and Outcomes between Military and Civilian War Survivors. In Occupational Stress and Well-Being in Military Contexts. Published online; 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-355520180000016001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-355520180000016001
Maercker, A., & Perkonigg, A. (2013). Applying an international perspective in defining PTSD and related disorders: comment on Friedman (2013). J Trauma Stress ;26(5):560–562. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21852 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21852
Marmar, C. R., Schlenger, W., Henn-Haase, C., Qian, M., Purchia, E., Li, M., ... & Karstoft, K. I. (2015). Course of posttraumatic stress disorder 40 years after the Vietnam War: Findings from the National Vietnam Veterans Longitudinal Study. JAMA psychiatry, 72(9), 875-881. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0803 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0803
Moustafa, A.A. (2013). Increased hippocampal volume and gene expression following cognitive behavioral therapy in PTSD. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7:747. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00747 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00747
Myers, C.E., Moustafa, A. A., Sheynin, J., VanMeenen, K. M., Gilbertson, M. W., Orr,S. P., Beck, K. B., Pang, K. C. H., Servatius, R. J. (2013). Learning to obtain reward, but not avoid punishment, is affected by presence of PTSD symptoms in male veterans: Empirical data and computational model. Plos One, 8(8),72508. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0072508 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0072508
National Center for PTSD (2012). Using the PTSD Checklist for DSM-IV (PCL). Available from http://www.vsias.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DP-063015_Using-the-PCL.pdf
Onyedire, N. G., Ekoh, A. T., Chukwuorji, J. C., & Ifeagwazi, C. M. (2017). Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among firefighters: Roles of resilience and locus of control. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 32(4), 227-248. https://doi.org/10.1080/15555240.2017.1369885 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15555240.2017.1369885
Pereira, M. G., Pereira, D., & Pedras, S. (2020). PTSD, psychological morbidity and marital dissatisfaction in colonial war veterans. Journal of Mental Health, 29(1), 69-76. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2018.1487532 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2018.1487532
Perkins, J. D., Ajeeb, M., Fadel, L., & Saleh, G. (2018). Mental health in Syrian children with a focus on post-traumatic stress: a cross-sectional study from Syrian schools. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 53(11), 1231–1239. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-018-1573-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-018-1573-3
Radell, M. L.,Myers, C. E., Sheynin, J., Moustafa, A. A. (2017). Computational models of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In A. Moustafa (Ed.) Computational models of Brain and Behavior. Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119159193.ch4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119159193.ch4
Shelby, R. A., Golden-Kreutz, D. M., & Andersen, B. L. (2005). Mismatch of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and DSM-IV symptom clusters in a cancer sample: exploratory factor analysis of the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version. Journal of traumatic stress, 18(4), 347–357. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20033 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20033
Steel, Z., Chey, T., Silove, D., Marnane, C., Bryant, R. A., & van Ommeren, M. (2009). Association of torture and other potentially traumatic events with mental health outcomes among populations exposed to mass conflict and displacement: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA, 302(5), 537–549. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2009.1132 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2009.1132
Syrian Researchers. (27 March, 2016). In Facebook [Science website]. Retrieved March 30, 2016, from https://www.facebook.com/Syrian.researchers/posts/1013816942033276
Veterans Affairs Canada (2008). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and War-Related Stress. Retrieved July 2020 from https://www.veterans.gc.ca/public/pages/publications/system-pdfs/ptsd_warstress_e.pdf.
Wittchen, HU., Jacobi, F., Rehm, J., Gustavsson, A., Svensson, M., Jönsson, B. (2016). The size and burden of mental disorders and other disorders of the brain in Europe 2010. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol, 21: 655-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2011.07.018 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2011.07.018
Yachouh, R. (2018). A Qualitative Investigation of the Mental Health Needs of Syrian Refugees and Immigrants (Doctoral dissertation).
Yehuda, R., Hoge, C. W., McFarlane, A. C., Vermetten, E., Lanius, R. A., Nievergelt, C. M., ... & Hyman, S. E. (2015). Post-traumatic stress disorder. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 1, 15057. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2015.57 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2015.57