Psychiatric admissions for psychosis in Malmö during the NATO bombing of Kosovo.

Little is known about the possible mechanisms contributing to increased risk for psychosis found among immigrants. We used the NATO bombing campaign of Kosovo as a naturalistic experiment to explore the role of potentially stressful aspects of minority group status. We examined all patient admissions to the psychiatric clinic in Malmö during the months of the NATO campaign in Kosovo in 1999 and during control months in 1997. Admission rates showed significantly differing trends over time, with an increasing proportion of immigrant patients with psychosis admitted during the NATO campaign months and a decreasing proportion of such patients admitted during control months. A significantly greater proportion of the immigrant patients admitted for psychosis during the NATO campaign months versus control months had been exposed to extreme duress before migration. Cumulative adversity, either solely or in combination with current stress, may possibly contribute to increased risk for psychosis among immigrants.