[Observed, pursued, disintegrated--mental disorders among victims of non-criminal repressions in the former GDR].
OBJECTIVE
While there are numerous studies on the mental sequelae of political imprisonment in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), there is little knowledge about the prevalence of mental disorders in victims of other forms of political persecution.


METHODS
74 individuals, who were subject to non-criminal repressions in the GDR, were investigated by means of a standardized psychiatric interview.


RESULTS
They had been exposed to a variety of reprisals such as observations, purposeful indiscretions, arranged professional failure and other forms of social marginalization. At least one mental disorder was found in 60 % of the participants. Affective disorders were the most common ones with a lifetime prevalence of 38 %, followed by anxiety (23 %) and somatoform disorders (28 %).


CONCLUSIONS
The frequency of mental disorders in our sample of politically persecuted people was higher than in the general population and similar to that of political prisoners, who only show higher rates of anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorders.
Spitzer
Carsten
C
Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie der Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald am HANSE-Klinikum Stralsund.
Ulrich
Ines
I
Plock
Kathryn
K
Mothes
Jörn
J
Drescher
Anne
A
Gürtler
Lena
L
Freyberger
Harald J
HJ
Barnow
Sven
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005859:Germany, East; D045809:Human Rights Abuses / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011057:Politics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment