Premium
Post‐traumatic psychosis among Cambodian refugees
Author(s) -
David Kinzie J.,
Boehnlein James J.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.2490020206
Subject(s) - psychosis , psychiatry , psychology , refugee , traumatic stress , clinical psychology , psychological trauma , medicine , archaeology , history
Of 100 consecutive Cambodian patients with post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), seven had severe persistent psychotic symptoms. Those with psychosis did not differ demographically or in severity of trauma from those without psychosis. The behavior of these seven patients was disruptive to their families; all required hospitalizations and were difficult to treat. This report as well as other clinical literature indicate that psychosis, usually associated with PTSD, is an infrequent but definite occurrence after massive psychological trauma.