Migration and schizophrenia
The challenges for European psychiatry and implications for the future
The last decade of the twentieth century has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of reports in the psychiatric literature documenting increased rates of psychotic illness among migrants in a range of European countries.
In countries where high rates of immigration have been long-standing such as Britain and the Netherlands, these increased rates have also been seen in the second generation of migrants.
This has impacted on psychiatry significantly with regard to the aetiology, diagnosis, and treatment of schizophrenia.
Method We reviewed the literature to summarise the available evidence about the phenomenon across the European countries where these findings have been reported.
Comparisons of the findings between countries were highlighted to establish their impact on psychiatry and to identify areas and implications for future research.
Results The history of this kind of research is longest in Britain and has established increased risk for nonwhite migrants, with Caribbean and African patients being especially vulnerable.
Caribbean migrants to the Netherlands have also been found to be at increased risk, but they are predominantly of IndoCaribbean ethnicity.
In the other European countries, East and West African migrants have been implicated in some countries, while European migrantshave been implicated in other countries.