title: Mental health of failed asylum seekers as compared with pending and temporarily accepted asylum seekers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Asylum seekers (AS) and refugees often suffer from severe psychopathology in the form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As PTSD impacts memory functions, and as asylum applications rely on personal accounts, AS with PTSD are at more risk of being rejected than refugees.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied the mental health of failed asylum seekers (FAS, N = 40) and a matched sample of AS (N = 40). Participants were administered structured interviews on sociodemographics, flight, exile and standardized questionnaires on PTSD, anxiety, depression and pain.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both samples were severely affected; >80% exhibited at least one clinically significant condition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given the great vulnerability of these individuals, long and unsettling asylum processes as practised in Western host countries seem problematic, as does the withdrawal of health and social welfare benefits. Finally, high rates of psychopathology amongst FAS indicate that refugee and humanitarian decision-making procedures may be failing to identify those most in need of protection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Zurich, Culmannstr. 8, CH - 8091 Zurich, Switzerland. julia.mueller@usz.ch
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Staeheli
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maier
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland; D055815:Young Adult