Lessons from the 2004 Asian tsunami: Epidemiological and nosological debates in the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder in non-Western post-disaster communities

Abstract

Although PTSS were common in this population, elevating them to a psychiatric construct of PTSD is questionable, when functional impairment and avoidance behaviours were absent. Grief reactions, socio-economic burden, and poor support systems contribute towards PTSS. We highlight the important issues regarding the nosological validity and epidemiology of PTSD in non-Western communities.