Detained asylum seekers may be being re-traumatised

doi:10.1136/bmj.39191.724097.3A

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Frank W Arnold, independent doctor

Reading RG6 1QB

arnold_frank{at}hotmail.com

Bisson's review does not mention torture, a common cause of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or the risk of re-traumatisation in such patients. UK doctors are most likely to encounter these problems among asylum seekers, especially those who have been detained in removal centres after being “failed” by the Home Office and immigration judges.1 The number of such cases probably exceeds 5000 per year.

It was accepted in the drafting of the detention centre rules2 and underlying statutory instruments that detention of …