Providing psychiatric healthcare to asylum seekers: reflections and challenges

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees the number of people forced to leave their home as a result of conflict, persecution, violence or human rights violations remains high with 68.5 million forcibly displaced people worldwide. Asylum seekers are vulnerable in terms of mental health but they receive very little specific psychiatric care. The purpose of this literature review is to examine current situation regarding asylum seekers' psychiatric healthcare.

This research was conducted using a keyword search on Medline, PubMed and Google Scholar.

The literature on the management of the mental health of asylum seekers focuses on the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder. There is little data on other forms of mental illness in this population. The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among asylum seekers is higher than in the general population and its clinical expression is varied and often complex because it involves various vulnerability factors. Guidelines for post-traumatic stress disorder recommend cognitive behavioral therapy with, in some cases, the use of pharmacotherapy. Given the specificities of the asylum seekers' population, in many cases it is not possible to set up such therapy immediately. Asylum seekers face a number of challenges in accessing mental healthcare.

Management of the mental health of asylum seekers requires special attention and guidelines for the general population are not directly applicable to this specific population. The literature focuses on the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder. This review was not able to analyse the state of existing care offer in Belgium for managing the mental health of asylum seekers and the care pathways they take.