Objective : In this study we examined psychopathology, diagnoses, social adjust ment and the course of symptoms over two and a half years in East German refugees who suffered a crisis immediately after migrating to West Berlin just prior to or shortly after the breaching of the Wall in autumn 1989. Methods: One hundred and twenty two refugees seeking crisis intervention in a psychiatric outpatient unit after arrival were investigated. Six months later 59% and two and a half years after migration 30% of the patients were re-examined. Results: The patients had been exposed to prolonged stress situations in East Germany and were suffering from anxious-depressive syndrome with vegetative complaints. Sixty patients required more than one crisis intervention during the first six months after resettlement. During the follow-up period symptoms decreased significantly. At the second follow-up interview 81% of the patients had a satisfactory job, and 89% acceptable accommodation. Conclusions : Satisfactory classification of the psychiatric disorders induced in East German refugees by prolonged stress was not possible according to the DSM-III-R criteria. lnitial crises are not necessarily associated with poor long-term adjustment after migration. © 1994, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.

[No Keywords available]

anxiety disease classification Germany depression refugee social change Follow-Up Studies human Life Change Events Refugees Adaptation, Psychological Depressive Disorder Anxiety Disorders Mental Disorders mental disease Adolescent male Acculturation Germany, East crisis intervention Personality Inventory female stress outpatient department symptom organic psychosyndrome german democratic republic Article social adaptation major clinical study adult migration Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic politics Emigration and Immigration Adjustment Disorders Somatoform Disorders Berlin Middle Age