Depression more prevalent in refugees born in Tibet: Study

Students born in Tibet demonstrated significantly higher depression and anxiety scores than Tibetans born in exile in either India or Nepal, said Charles L. Raison the lead researcher of the study published in on-line version of the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

Students who left Tibet at an older age or who had been in India for a shorter period of time had higher depression and anxiety scores, suggesting that experiences in Tibet may have promoted depression and anxiety, it said.

Time spent in India may have promoted an improvement of symptoms, the study indicated.

The Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25, a questionnaire widely used to measure depression and anxiety symptoms in refugee groups around the world, was completed by 319 student volunteers.

The students were also asked to provide demographic information such as place of birth, age and availability of family support in India.