OFFERING ASYLUM TO TRAUMA. TRAUMA AND RESPONSE TO ADVERSITY IN ASYLUM SEEKERS’ NARRATIVES.

Introduction: Traumatic experiences are “events” that hit and disorganize the psychic structure, interrupting the identity coherence. Evidence emerging from the field of refugee mental health has revealed that the traumatic events experienced by asylum seekers and refugees, generally interrelated and cumulative, lead to increased risk of psychological distress and psychopathology (Slewa-Younan et al. 2015; Rohlof et al., 2013). Nevertheless, it’s been also highlighted how important is to consider that the response to adversities varies from individual to individual, and includes a lot of factors (Thomas et al., 2011; Papadopoulos, 2007). According to us, to improve our understanding of the deep complexity of asylum seekers’ experience, diagnostic models need to be connected to models that focus on the relationship between individual needs and contextual factors. Method: The study aims to 1) evaluate traumatic and resilience levels in asylum seekers; 2) explore the meanings of pre and post-migration experiences considering the role of traumatic and resilient levels. We met 20 North-African asylum seekers, hosted in Asylum Seekers’ Shelters. PTSD Checklist, Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Resilience Scale and in-depth interviews were administered. The interviews were analysed by the software T-LAB. Results: Only 35% of participants presented a Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (M PCL-C: 47; SD: 13,27) but more than 50% reported a traumatic impact regarding the experience in Libya (M IES-R: 37,9; SD: 20). Moderately high resilience levels emerged (M RS: 141,15; SD: 21,24). The analysis of the interviews shows 4 thematic clusters: From death to life across the sea; Land of care; A godforsaken place; Memories from the past. Discussion: Themes emerged from asylum seekers’ narratives seem to be independent from traumatic and resilient levels suggesting an homogeneous field of experience in which migration trauma is narrated.