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Healthcare Prof:

The so-called “Khmer Rouge trials” now underway are most likely to have an impact on the mental wellness of numerous Cambodians, based on a new study published within the August five problem of JAMA, a theme concern on violence and human rights.

“Millions of Cambodians suffered profound trauma for the duration of the Khmer Rouge era (1975 to 1979),” based on background data provided by the authors. “It is estimated that between one million and two million people (approximately 20 percent of the Cambodian population) died for the duration of that epoch, and millions of survivors had been forced into slave labor under harsh conditions.” The authors note that numerous previous studies suggest that the psychological effects among the population include a high prevalence of posttraumatic tension disorder (PTSD) and other mental and physical disabilities. A joint United Nations-Cambodian tribunal (the “Khmer Rouge trials”) began hearings earlier this year to try the senior leadership of the Khmer Rouge.

Jeffrey Sonis, M.D., M.P.H., from the School of Medicine in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues analyzed information from face-to-face interviews of a national probability sample of 1,017 adult Cambodians to determine the prevalence of PTSD symptoms and disability and associations with perceived justice, desire for revenge and expertise of and attitudes toward the trials. The population sample included 813 adults older than 35 years who had lived by way of the Khmer Rouge era and 204 adults ages 18 to 35 years who had not been exposed towards the regime. A substantial percentage of the older adults reported getting exposed to trauma in the course of the Khmer Rouge era with about half (50.1 percent or 391) telling the interviewers that they had been close to death throughout that time and 243 respondents (31.four percent) reported physical or mental torture. The interviews were conducted prior to the Khmer Rouge trials began.

“The prevalence of present probable PTSD was 11.2 percent overall and 7.9 percent amongst the younger group and 14.two percent inside the older group,” the researchers report. That figure (11.two percent) is almost 5 times higher than a existing estimated PTSD prevalence figure of two.3 percent within the United States, according to the researchers.

“Probable PTSD was significantly associated with mental disability (40.2 percent vs. 7.9 percent) and physical disability (39.6 percent vs. 20.1 percent).” Far more of the respondents inside the older group had been aware of the Khmer Rouge trials than those in the younger group. “Although Cambodians were hopeful that the trials would promote justice, 87.two percent (681) of those older than 35 years believed that the trials would make painful memories for them.” The researchers also located that respondents with high levels of perceived justice for violations during the Khmer Rouge era had been less most likely to have probable PTSD.

“The crucial question is regardless of whether the Khmer Rouge trials will decrease symptoms of PTSD by increasing feelings of justice or improve PTSD symptoms by reviving traumatic memories of survivors without having delivering an opportunity to method and reframe these memories.” In conclusion the researchers write, “?- longitudinal investigation is essential to figure out the impact of the trials on Cambodians’ mental health.”

JAMA. 2009;302[5]:527-536.

Source
Journal of the American Medical Association