PTSD — Clinical Guidance for Refugee Patients

This clinical resource section from the Migration Humanitarian Health Collective (MH2C), authored by Dr. Rita Watterson MD FRCPC MPH, provides guidance on recognising and managing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in refugee patients. It outlines key symptoms including hyperarousal, intrusive thoughts, avoidance, guilt, and sleep disturbance, and highlights somatic symptom presentations that are commonly observed in this population.  The resource introduces the Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5) as a clinical tool, recommends against routine trauma screening while advising clinical vigilance, and includes a specialist referral pathway. This resource equips primary care providers with practical strategies for identifying and responding to PTSD in culturally sensitive clinical settings.