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KMID : 0897520120170020083
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Journal of Korean Association of Social Psychiatry
2012 Volume.17 No. 2 p.83 ~ p.88
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Mental Health of North Korean Refugees ? Depression, Anxiety and Mental Health Service Need ?
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Ahn Song-Ii
Jon Duk-In
Hong Hyun-Ju
Jung Myung-Hun
Kim Hyun
Hong Na-Rei
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Abstract
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Objective : Many North Korean refugees have been settled down in South Korea, and they have been suffering from pre-migration trauma and resettlement stress. And there are not enough systematic studies about general mental health of North Korean refugees. Our aim is to evaluate prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms, to find factors affecting these symptoms, and to investigate mental health service needs for North Korean refugees.
Methods : 56 subjects were recruited from North Korean adult refugees who lived in Gunpo-si. We trained 4 North Korean refugees as interviewers. The trained interviewers visited North Korean subjects and made the subjects to submit self- administered questionnaires about demographic factors, factors related to defection, subjective health perception, and
mental health service needs. And the subjects were assessed with Beck depression inventory and Beck anxiety inventory
to measure depressive and anxious symptoms, respectively. Chi-square test and independent T test were performed.
Results : In 56 subjects, 39.3% of subjects showed depressive symptoms and 42.9% of them had anxiety symptoms. Unemployment (p=0.021), having mental illnesses (p<0.001) and lineal family members in North Korea (p=0.029) were more frequently found in depressed subjects. Also anxious subjects had having government grant as main income (p=0.001), unemployment (p<0.001), being recipient of national basic livelihood security (p=0.038), medical aid type 1 (p=0.018), bad perception of subjective health (p=0.035), and mental illnesses (p<0.001). But factors related to defection
were not significantly associated with depression or anxiety symptoms. Many subjects reported to need mental health
service and they want to get psychotherapy and psychological test.
Conclusion : This study revealed that many North Korean refugees have depression or anxiety symptoms. And there were significant associations between symptoms and current status, such as financial problems and subjective health perception, rather than factors related to defection. And they wanted mental health services more than our expectation. Further evaluation about mental health services focusing on depression and anxiety symptoms is needed for North Korean refugees.
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KEYWORD
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North Korean refugee, Mental health, Depression, Anxiety, Mental health service need
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