Exploring the Psychological Experiences of Afghanistan Refugees in Italy: A Qualitative Study

The Taliban restored their government in Afghanistan in August 2021, following an international agreement and a rapid offensive throughout the country. Consequently, many Afghans who collaborated with the United States-NATO coalition were forced to leave the country. Forced migration events expose people to a wide breadth of sudden stressful changes, conventionally assumed as trauma. This article proposes another point of view of forced migration considering the turning points to understand negative impact and resilience trajectories, exploring the life stories of 34 Afghan refugees who were evacuated from Afghanistan to Italy. Grounded theory and a thematic analysis method were used to infer themes. The results show three themes: the shock for the taking of Kabul, a tragic possibility, gaining a sense of mastery. The last theme, gaining a sense of mastery, displays a form of suffering but also various forms of resilience and new modes of engagement. Overall, our results foreground the deep role played by the social and historical bonds in forging both suffering and resilience in the identified turning points. From these insights, practical implications for community-based psychosocial interventions can be drawn.