75% of Darfur’s refugee children show PTSD symptoms

Study conducted by a UK journal says 38 per cent meet clinical criteria for depression75 per cent of the children in Darfur’s refugee camps met diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to an interview-based study released by The Lancet, a UK-based health journal, on Thursday.

The study also concluded that 38 per cent of refugee children in camps fulfilled clinical symptoms for depression.

The research carried out by the Oxford-based group is meant to add to information about mental health issues faced by refugee children.

It was found that most information available in this regard came from first world countries, where refugee children have been relocated. However, data about the mental health of minors, who have been refugees in nearby or neighboring countries from their country of origin is majorly lacking.

The report in The Lancet reads, “Evidence suggests that adaptation to apparently similar settings is not necessarily easy, and refugees themselves draw attention to cultural dissimilarity in settings that western researchers judge to be similar on the basis of religion and language.”

The study suggests that proximity to one’s country of origin does not necessarily make the environment hospitable for refugees. In fact, in poorer and low-income countries, the resources are scarce and the living conditions hence harsher.

According to the journal, an estimated 18 million children worldwide have been forcefully displaced from their homes due to conflict.