Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among asylum seekers and refugees

The purpose of the study is to examine the level of anxiety, depression, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among asylum seekers, particularly women coming to the San Francisco Bay Area. Studies have shown that PTSD severity scores in women asylum seekers were higher than scores in men (Vojvoda, Weine, Me Glashan, Becher & Southwick, 2008). Refugees who reported high levels of PTSD were nearly 15 times more likely to report high levels of anxiety than those who experienced low levels of PTSD (beta= 14.88, p<.001). These findings support the importance of greater need for\ud psychosocial interventions such as psycho educations seminars so that asylum seekers are able to adjust well in the American society. The research is quantitative with a sample\ud size (n=100) randomly selected from over 500 cases. This is a secondary data research\ud derived from Survivors International organization located in San Francisco. This study\ud demonstrates that the health and social needs of traumatized asylum seekers are spread\ud over range of social domains and other areas of life