The relationship between somatic and PTSD symptoms among Bhutanese refugee torture survivors: Examination of comorbidity with anxiety and depression

Abstract

Previous research has indicated a relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and somatic complaints. We examined whether this relationship is a result of shared comorbidity with anxiety and depression. Local doctors interviewed a random, community sample of 526 tortured and 526 nontortured Bhutanese refugees living in U.N. refugee camps in Nepal. The interview covered demographics, torture, somatic complaints, and PTSD, depression, and anxiety measures. Number of PTSD symptoms, independent of depression and anxiety, predicted both number of reported somatic complaints and number of organ systems involving such complaints. Physicians need to screen for PTSD when survivors of extreme stressors present nonspecific somatic complaints.

Political violence and mental health: A multi-disciplinary review of the literature on Nepal

“…Further research was conducted to identify risk factors for an epidemic of medically unexplained illness in the Bhutanese refugee camps, involving fainting and dizziness among adolescents in fear of spirit possession. Risk factors for illness identified in this case control study were recent loss, childhood trauma, and pulse rate (van Ommeren et al, 2001).…”

The Validity and Reliability of the German Version of the Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ-20)

“…Furthermore, somatoform dissociative symptoms among subjects with PTSD have been reported in France (El-Hage et al, 2002) and Nepal (Van Ommeren et al, 2002). It is worth noting that Dell (2002) and Van Ommeren et al (2002) measured somatoform dissociation with scales other than the SDQ-20.…”

Hypnotizability and Somatic Complaints:A Gender-Specific Phenomenon

“…A rich literature has linked trauma to both hypnotizability (Bryant, Guthrie, Moulds, Nixon, & Felmingham, 2003;Butler, Duran, Jasiukaitis, Koopman, & Spiegel, 1996) and somatic dissociation (Näring & Nijenhuis, 2005;Nijenhuis, Spinhoven, van Dyck, van der Hart, & Vanderlinden, 1998;van Ommeren, Sharma, Sharma, Komproe, Cardeña, & de Jong, 2002). Given contemporary theories of hypnosis as a dissociative experience (Barber, 1999;Carlson & Putnam, 1989;Kihlstrom, Glisky, & Angiulo, 1994), it is possible that both hypnotizability and psychophysiological complaints are influenced by trauma-related factors such as dissociation.…”