Blog Post 1

Although I can say I have been lucky enough to not have experienced many traumatic medical events of my own in my life, I certainly have witnessed many. As a psychology major, I tend to find interest in mental health specifically, of which I noticed the care to be lacking when I was studying abroad in Greece last summer. I spent a couple months working at a refugee camp on an island called Lesvos, just outside of Turkey. Refugees from across the globe fleeing persecution of all sorts made the treacherous journey here, only to be detained for weeks, months, or even years. For quite obvious reasons, their past experiences and current situations really took a toll on the entire family’s mental health. Fathers often faced terrible anxiety, worrying that they may one day risk their lives too heavily and leave the rest of their family alone to fend for themselves. Mothers woke with night terrors of the boat rides and smuggler bribes that they were forced to agree to for the safety of their children. And their children dreamt of a happier tomorrow, only waiting until the next sunrise to lose a little more hope.

During my time working at Kara Tepe, a refugee camp for women, children, and families, I was given the opportunity to spend time picking the brain of a clinical psychiatrist on the field. He explained some of the most horrifying stories he had heard from his patients, and revealed to me the truth behind the goals of these families. Eventually, I was able to sit in on a couple of his meetings, with the patient’s permission of course. It took a long time for a patient to be willing enough to allow me to sit in, considering they had lost much of their trust in the world and were not comfortable getting so personal with a stranger. The encounters that I did have, however, were enlightening in regards to understanding the medical system of a refugee camp.

I was shocked to find that the care was almost entirely non-medication based, which seems to be quite the opposite of many practices I have encountered in the American medical system. I think it is unfortunate that many doctors here immediately turn to medicating their patients to alleviate whatever mental disease they are facing after just one meeting. Oftentimes, a disease can be masked as something else or more successfully treated for the long-term in a holistic way. For this reason, I find that Americans could learn something from the Greek system. On the other hand, many of the people within these refugee camps are facing incredible pain and suffering that would be best managed through medication, though they will never receive a prescription. One reason for this is fear of the substances being sold or misused in desperation, which I believe is a fair concern. I do however see this lack of medication as a negative aspect of the Greek system, as the patients are missing out on a viable and perhaps imperative solution to living a more content lifestyle. So, I would conclude that the Greek system certainly has many positive and negative aspects in their care, from my perspective. Although there is always room for improvement, and that is something I strongly hope will happen in the near future, I am glad to see the NGO’s on the camps for actually providing refugees with a psychiatrist at all. Many people even in the United States struggle to find access to a doctor of the sort, and so it is truly commendable that they have made this a possibility for the most vulnerable of populations. 

3 thoughts on “Blog Post 1

  1. I found your post very interesting, particularly the part about the Greek doctors not wanting to immediately medicate their patients. My mom actually raised me to try and use more natural methods to help me when I was sick growing up. Instead of taking Tylenol, Ibuprofen, or Aleve, she would make me try different essential oils or cold presses. Therefore, I was raised to agree with the fact that our society in America is definitely overmedicated. For example, people in the U.S. turn to prescriptions to get rid of the smallest headaches. Additionally, I hear of people taking a higher dose of the medicine because they claim that the recommended dose doesn’t even affect them anymore. However, I also agree that maybe taking a more holistic approach to medicine can also lead to many patients dying or suffering because the doctors refused to prescribe them medication when it could actually help them. Do you think there could be a happy medium between these two extremes or have heard of any other healthcare systems in a different country that balances these two medical styles?

    Thank you for sharing your story! Your experience in Greece sounded very enriching and mind opening.

  2. I commend you for going to the refugee camps and working with families. I am not to sure about the medicine thing though. Is it possible that they weren’t providing medicine to the refugees because of lack of resources to spend on medicine? Greek physicians prescribe drugs, maybe not at the same rate as the US but they still prescribe drugs at a similar rate as the rest of the EU.

    • I agree with you that Greece as a whole prescribes drugs at a similar rate as the rest of the EU, but the practices within the camp at which I worked were quite different than what you would see at a typical hospital or clinic for the greater public. The island of Lesvos holds a strong negative stigma towards the refugees that reside there, and often think of them more so as animals than humans. In part for this reason, along with a lack of resources, and many other factors, I believe the physicians at the camp held off on prescribing to the refugees. There was an unfortunate lack of trust in the assumptions that refugees would misuse or sell their drugs, again because they are viewed as lesser individuals.
      I agree with Brooke’s comment that sometimes more natural methods can be beneficial to your health and there are definitely arguments regarding the overmedication of Americans, but I believe the tactics specifically used in the Lesvos camps are an unethical treatment of humans, and a line between holistic and prescription medication needs to be distinguished.

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