LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF POLITICAL IMPRISONMENT - A GROUP COMPARISON STUDY

The study investigated the long-term effects of political imprisonment in the former German Democratic Republic. A group of non-treatment-se eking former political prisoners (n = 146) was compared with an age-an d sex-matched group (n = 75). Assessments included the structured Diag nostic Interview for Psychiatric Disorders (German abbreviation: DIPS) for DSM-III-R/-IV diagnoses, a checklist of persecution and maltreatm ent: and other self-rated measures of post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD), anxiety, depression, and dissociation. PTSD was assessed by the DIPS as current and lifetime diagnoses. Former political prisoners we re imprisoned for 38 months on average. The former prisoners had a low er educational and lifetime occupational level than the comparison gro up. Results regarding diagnoses show a frequency of 30% current and 60 % lifetime PTSD in the former prisoners group. Other anxiety disorders (e.g., claustrophobia, social phobia) outnumbered comorbid affective disorders. The level of dissociation was elevated in the former prison ers group. Intrusive recollections and hyperarousal were more common t han avoidance/numbing symptoms. Despite differences in imprisonment du ration between three historically defined eras of persecution, no diff erences appeared in the level of symptomatology. The results suggest t hat political imprisonment in the former German Democratic Republic ha d long-term psychological effects. Compared with an age-and sex-matche d comparison group, the former political prisoners showed higher level s not only of post-traumatic symptomatology but also of other anxiety disorders and dissociation.