TY - JOUR
T1 - Posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and somatic symptoms in U.S. Mien patients
AU - Moore, Laurie J.
AU - Boehnlein, James K.
PY - 1991/12
Y1 - 1991/12
N2 - This report describes treatment over a period of 6 years of Mien refugees from highland Laos in the Indochinese Psychiatric Program of the Oregon Health Sciences University (Portland, OR). The medical and psychiatric problems of 84 patients were presented through somatic symptoms such as headache, dizziness, or musculoskeletal pain. Primary care medical problems were identified and treated, with the major focus on the two most common psychiatric diagnoses: Major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Cultural beliefs about illness and medication interfered with adherence to prescribed treatment. A marked sensitivity to side effects of certain antidepressants also resulted in subtherapeutic doses. Patients rarely volunteered their traumatic histories, psychiatric problems, or dissatisfaction with medications. However, the effective use of medication for somatic complaints, along with the continuing recognition of Mien health beliefs in psychosocial treatments, allowed for the development of a trusting doctor-patient relationship and continued psychiatric care.
AB - This report describes treatment over a period of 6 years of Mien refugees from highland Laos in the Indochinese Psychiatric Program of the Oregon Health Sciences University (Portland, OR). The medical and psychiatric problems of 84 patients were presented through somatic symptoms such as headache, dizziness, or musculoskeletal pain. Primary care medical problems were identified and treated, with the major focus on the two most common psychiatric diagnoses: Major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Cultural beliefs about illness and medication interfered with adherence to prescribed treatment. A marked sensitivity to side effects of certain antidepressants also resulted in subtherapeutic doses. Patients rarely volunteered their traumatic histories, psychiatric problems, or dissatisfaction with medications. However, the effective use of medication for somatic complaints, along with the continuing recognition of Mien health beliefs in psychosocial treatments, allowed for the development of a trusting doctor-patient relationship and continued psychiatric care.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0026336778&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0026336778&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/00005053-199112000-00003
DO - 10.1097/00005053-199112000-00003
M3 - Article
C2 - 1744630
AN - SCOPUS:0026336778
SN - 0022-3018
VL - 179
SP - 728
EP - 733
JO - Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
JF - Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
IS - 12
ER -