Mental health status of internally displaced persons in the Garmian region of Kurdistan, Iraq: a cross-sectional survey.

There are an estimated 4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq, mainly settled in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and yet few studies have documented the mental health of IDPs in the region. The aims of this study were (1) to assess the prevalence of mental health disorders and trauma experiences amongst IDPs and (2) to explore associations between prior displacement and years living in the camp and mental health disorders. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with adults (N = 100) from March - July 2018. Structured surveys were used to collect sociodemographic information, and adapted measures included the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ), Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Inventory (PTSD-8), Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) and the Post-Migration Living Difficulties Checklist (PMLD). The average number of traumatic events experienced was 4.43 (SD = 2.63). The most commonly reported traumatic events included oppression due to ethnicity, religion or sect (92%) and exposure to combat situations (83%). Nearly half of the participants had experienced ill health without access to medical care, 44% lack of shelter and 43% lack of food or clean water. Thirty-two percent of respondents witnessed someone being murdered. There is a critical need for quality mental health services for IDPs in KR.

Social media as an effective therapeutic tool for addressing obsessive-compulsive disorder: a case study.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic but very treatable medical condition. Adhering to the therapy plan is considered one of the biggest challenges for OCD patients, especially when communities are insecure due to armed conflicts and political upheavals. This paper documents the results of using social media platforms (especially Facebook Messenger, which provides free internet access) to manage the symptoms of a young female with chronic OCD. The results suggest that social media can be a potentially effective therapeutic tool, mainly in situations where armed conflicts, displacement and insecurity are present and where more traditional customs and conservative norms are sometimes reinforced as a protective mechanism, particularly for women who may be prevented from following the classic person-to-person consultation protocol. Social media, when used skilfully and properly protected, may help overcome the multiple cultural and social barriers that prevent the application of the more traditional treatment protocol. .