[Psychiatric care for asylum seekers in Geneva: a multidisciplinary approach for individualized care]

Asylum seekers constitute a vulnerable population insofar as they are submitted to numerous stress factors which facilitate the emergence of mental disorders, such as low socio-economic status, forced separation from loved ones and exposure to violence. Asylum seekers who consult at our community psychiatry facility usually have short-term residence permits, live in collective housing and do not speak the local language. The most frequent diagnoses are depressive disorder (64.7%) and post-traumatic stress disorder (34.5%). Due to their specific clinical and social situation and to the involvement of several professionals in these situations, a specialized psychiatric intervention coordinated with the rest of the network seems necessary.