Abstract
To date, there is only one representative study providing epidemiological data on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Switzerland, showing zero or fairly low prevalences for PTSD in Switzerland [1]. However in a
representative study with elderly people (65–96 years) living in Zurich, we recently reported prevalences of 0.7% for full PTSD according to DSM-IV criteria and 4.2% for partial PTSD using clinical interviews as well as questionnaires [2]. In this paper we present trauma constellations of this sample in a case-related and detailed way. 36% of the sample indicated having
experienced at least one potentially traumatizing event; primarily severe accidents, physical violence and war-related events. Three of four participants suffered from PTSD due to war-related events or political persecution
– they were all naturalized persons and had immigrated to Switzerland from different European countries. For participants with partial PTSD, traumas such as severe accidents, violence, and war-related events occurred almost equally frequent. In the discussion we point out that for the clinical routine both full and partial PTSD should be assessed as full PTSD diagnosis according to the more liberal criteria defined by ICD-10. Furthermore we
draw attention to the great number of Swiss with war-related experiences stemming from different immigration waves and their specific therapeutic needs.
Maercker, Andreas