Mental Health and Wellbeing of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Serbia

Abstract

By the end of 2021 89.3 million of people worldwide were forced to leave their home countries because of war, expulsion and violation of human rights. These experiences can have strong influence on occurrence of mental health difficulties, so one of the objectives of the study was to determine the incidence of different mental health difficulties, but of psychological strengths, as well. The results of the study showed that 80% of refugees were identified as psychologically vulnerable, out of which 48% were highly vulnerable, meaning that they required some sort of psychological or psychosocial support. Also, 67% of refugees were under acute distress and required urgent psychological first aid or intervention in crisis, after which it was also important to continue monitoring their condition in order to prevent them from relapsing back to the psychological crisis. Additionally, 26% of refugees showed symptoms of depression, 21% showed symptoms of anxiety, while 23% of refugees showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress. However, it was discovered that while experiencing various psychological difficulties, the refugees were also able to preserve and develop positive psychological capacities, as well, such as the feeling of hope (50-69%), as well as the post-traumatic growth (25- 51%). Still, just every third or fourth person reported that his/her psychological wellbeing was preserved, which once more highlighted the need for additional psychological support. Based on the results of the study we made recommendations for evidencebased psychosocial practice, but also for all persons working with the refugees, in order to develop systematic sensitivity for the issues of refugees’ mental health and provision of comprehensive multidisciplinary support.