查看文章

Prior to the first democratic elections, South Africa had experienced severe political violence. In this paper, we describe the effects of this violence on mental health, concentrating mainly on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and its symptoms, including reliving aspects of the trauma, avoiding situations which remind one of the experience, and heightened irritability. As part of a nationwide survey on health inequalities covering 4000 South African households, questions were put to 3870 respondents aged 16 to 64 years on their mental health status, feelings of powerlessness, exposure to violence and other traumatic situations, symptoms of PTSD and access to health care for these symptoms. Weighted survey results indicate that approximately five million adults (23% of the population aged 16 to 64 years) had been exposed to one or more violent events, for example, being attacked, participating in …