Psychosocial Counseling in Afghanistan

University of Konstanz

Status: Completed

Conditions: Stress; Mental Health

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01155687

EuropeAid/127054/C/SER/MULTI

Details and patient eligibility

About

The assessment intends to investigate the efficacy of psychosocial counseling for the treatment of help seeking individuals with psychosocial problems in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. Treatment was administered by local counselors who had received specific education and training

Full description

Psychosocial stress due to conflict and war causes major mental health problems in many resource-poor countries, especially those coping with ongoing war-like conditions. There is a lack of intervention research in these population. The purpose of this assessment was to examine whether the type of psychosocial counseling developed by our group is effective in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety and significantly increasing the quality of life of help-seeking Afghans.

Enrollment: 61 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 14+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of mental health problems by a local medical doctor

Exclusion criteria

• Schizophrenia
• Mental retardation

Trial design

61 participants in 2 patient groups

Psychosocial counseling

Description:

the group received annualized treatment of psychosocial counseling

Medication

Description:

this group received medical treatment by the local medical doctor