Detaining people seeking asylum in Australia more than doubles their odds of developing post-traumatic stress disorder.
A national study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress investigated the mental health impacts of immigration detention on 334 asylum seekers.
Australian researchers Walter Forrest and Zachary Steel drew on the results of a long-term study by commonwealth officials, external stakeholders and refugee experts.
“We conservatively estimate that detention more than doubled the odds of having probable PTSD and likely increased the odds of developing probable PTSD more than seven times,” the authors said in their paper.
“These estimates are extraordinary considering the reported prevalence of PTSD among resettled refugees in other settings….