From Cambodia to California: Survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide need access to mental healthcare
KVPR | By Soreath Hok
Published November 28, 2022 at 12:03 AM PST
This story is part of the series Health and Healing for Cambodian Survivors.

FRESNO, Calif. — Almost 50 years ago, the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia leaving its mark on history as one of the most brutal communist regimes to seize power. Under dictator Pol Pot, millions of Cambodians were killed in a systematic genocide that lasted nearly four years. Thousands fled the country. Today, many of those survivors live in California, a state with some of the largest concentrated populations of Cambodian refugees. One thing many have carried with them is the trauma of the experience. Treating this trauma is complex: Language and cultural barriers make it hard for many to access mental healthcare.

I didn’t personally experience the Khmer Rouge regime, but I was born in its aftermath. Both my father and mother and their families lived through the horrors of the genocide from 1975 to 1979, when many died from forced labor, starvation, murder and torture. It’s estimated at least 2 million people died. Those who survived the genocide are still dealing with the trauma from that time.

I was born in Khao-I-Dang, one of the main refugee camps in Thailand that housed thousands of survivors. In the 1980s, my family was sponsored to come to the U.S., where we first landed in Los Angeles. By the time I was a teenager, we had made our way to Fresno, which is now home to more than 6,700 Cambodians, according to the 2015 U.S. Census.

For me, the genocide existed only as fragmented stories I occasionally heard from my parents and grandparents - always spoken in “Khmer” or Cambodian and usually sparked by conversations around food at the dinner table. These stories often were told to highlight how abundant our lives were now compared to the time of Pol Pot

A 2005 RAND Study surveyed a group of refugees - all adults who lived through the Khmer Rouge. In the group, 99 percent reported experiencing starvation. And 90 percent had a family member or friend murdered.

When Vietnamese forces drove the Khmer Rouge out of power in 1979, survivors like my family fled to refugee camps in Thailand. Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians resettled in the U.S., Canada, France and other countries.

During the 1990s, more than 150,000 Cambodian refugees reached the United States. Today, when their descendants are also counted, more than 316,000 Cambodians are part of U.S. communities, according to the Pew Research Center.

A third of that population is in California, with the largest pockets in Long Beach (40,595), Stockton (12,520), Orange County (9,183) and Fresno (6,718).

Studies have found that, even decades later, Cambodian refugees who lived through the Khmer Rouge still suffer from high rates of psychiatric illnesses. Some 62 percent of the Cambodian refugees in the RAND study were found to suffer from PTSD and 51 percent had depression. Often they had both.
In full: https://www.kvpr.org/community/2022-11- ... healthcare

A word on mental health from Dr. SOTHEARA CHHIM:


Earlier this year, the Cambodian doctor Sotheara Chhim, who is the director of the TPO (Transcultural Psychosocial Organization), received the 2022 Ramon Magsaysay Award for his efforts to help Cambodians with mental health problems.
newsworthy/operation-unchain-cambodian- ... 15884.html

Mental health care is still low on the Cambodian government's priorities, so it remains difficult for average Cambodians to seek treatment. Yet, every day in Cambodia, mental health problems are responsible for suicide, anger issues, domestic violence, and even murder.
The doctor's message here is :"Do not be ashamed, and do not be afraid to ask for help if you suffer from mental health problems".

If someone you know is looking for help with mental health issues, here are some contact numbers:
TPO
HEAD OFFICE
Open Monday to Friday, 8–12am and 1–4pm
TREATMENT CENTER (clinic)
Open Monday to Sunday, 8–12am and 1–4pm

TPO Building, #2-4,
Oknha Vaing Road (St 1952),
Sangkat Phnom Penh Thmey,
Khan Sen Sok, PO Box 1124, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

General Inquiries:
023 63 66 992 & 095 666 826 – [email protected]

Treatment Center (clinic):
016 222 597 & 095 777 004
https://tpocambodia.org/contact-us/