Take our Depression Test

Find a therapist to heal from trauma

War can cause lasting mental health challenges, including PTSD, depression, and anxiety among civilians.

Children exposed to conflict risk developmental challenges, while trauma can affect future generations.

Doctors and families face immense psychological burdens while coping with loss, displacement, and violence.

Community support fosters resilience, but long-term mental health care remains essential for war survivors.

By Sophie Wagner and Robert T. Muller, Ph.D.

According to the Geneva Academy, there are more than 114 ongoing armed conflicts across the globe. Many associate armed conflict with physical danger and death, but the impact on civilians’ mental health is an overlooked crisis.

This involves more than the traumas they are already facing, such as bombings and malnutrition, but also anxieties about things they might face—like family death, injury, or becoming disabled. These anxieties are especially dangerous, as they can persist across one’s lifetime.

The experience of war can result in a multitude of mental health diagnoses, the most common being post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety,........

© Psychology Today