Zeitschrift für traumatische Belastungsstörungen und Behandlung

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Internally Displaced People Subjected to Displacement by Armed Forces

Altan Essizoglu and Inan Keser

 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Internally Displaced People Subjected to Displacement by Armed Forces

In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among internally displaced people subjected to internal displacement from rural dwellings to the center of the city of Diyarbakır. Forty-two downtown districts were surveyed between February and April 2009. The home visits included 3,032 houses; interviews were conducted with an adult family member of each house. Of the 3,032 houses, 528 (17.4%) households had been subjected to displacement. The possible PTSD rate was 21.4% among the persons who were forced to migrate or obliged to leave their habitual residences by armed forces. Although it has been a long time since the internal displacement, the traumatic effects of internal displacement seem to remain to some extent.