Post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression among Italian Nazi concentration camp survivors: a controlled study 50 years later

BACKGROUND: The study aimed to assess the current and lifetime rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression (MDD) among Nazi concentration camps survivors. METHODS: We investigated 51 Italian political deportees and 47 Resistance Movement veterans who reported traumatic experiences during active service. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV was used to assess the presence of PTSD and MDD. The Dissociative Experiences Scale and the shorter version of the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist were also administered. RESULTS: The lifetime rates of PTSD and MDD were 35.3% and 45.1% respectively among deportees and 4.3% and 6.4% among former partisans. The current rates for PTSD and MDD were 25.5% and 33.3% among deportees and 4.3% and 4.3% among former partisans. Dissociative symptoms were more severe among deportees than among Resistance movement veterans. CONCLUSIONS: Concentration camp internment, even for political reasons, appears to have severe long-term psychiatric consequences.