Anxiety and mood (대한불안의학회지)

Korean Academy of Anxiety Disorders (대한불안의학회)
권호 표지

The Mass Social Trauma and Mental Health of Cambodian

캄보디아인의 집단 외상과 정신건강

  • Lee, Nabin (Catholic Emotion Lab, Catholic Medical Science Institute) ;
  • Min, Jung-Ah (Catholic Emotion Lab, Catholic Medical Science Institute) ;
  • Chae, Jeong-Ho (Catholic Emotion Lab, Catholic Medical Science Institute)
  • 이나빈 (가톨릭대학교 의과학연구원) ;
  • 민정아 (가톨릭대학교 의과학연구원) ;
  • 채정호 (가톨릭대학교 의과학연구원)
  • Received : 2012.07.03
  • Accepted : 2012.09.19
  • Published : 2012.10.30
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Abstract

The mass social trauma, such as organized violence, wars, oppression by dictatorships and massive terrorist attacks, exposes thousands of people to trauma in a short period of time. Therefore, the mass social trauma is distinguished from individualized trauma, such as a violent attack, rape or a traffic accident in that it results in multiple and extended consequences beyond the individual. During the Khmer Rouge regime, one quarter of the Cambodian population was killed as a result of malnutrition, forced labor and mass killings. Until now, its evil continues to affect Cambodian's physical and mental health problems. Although there is ongoing debate, to date, no consensus has been reached supporting a clear set of recommendations for the intervention and longitudinal study regarding the influence of killing field massacre being too little. And comparative cultural studies, such as comparing the East to West or other Asian cultures are also lacking. This article gives an overview of previous study results about the mental health of Cambodians, and suggests a possible research issue and therapeutic interventions to determine the impact of mass trauma to the members of society and post-traumatic recovery factors.

Keywords

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