War, socio-political conflict and Geopsychiatry

Wars and socio-political conflicts across the world cause humanitarian and psychological distress to mankind. The mental health consequences of war could affect civilians, refugees, and war victims for generations. After 2020, over forty conflicts were identified worldwide, experiencing the highest intensity in low- and middle-income country settings of Africa and Asia. These conflicts resulted in widespread displacement, deaths and psychosocial distress and affected millions of people worldwide. Along with physical damage, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and transgenerational trauma are the common psychiatric outcomes. Additionally, they create barriers to mental health response due to the collapse of health systems, less political attention to mental health, and limited culture sensitive interventions during wars. Among all these challenges, emerging faith-based community approach showed beneficial mental health support during crises. Geopsychiatric attention and measures are warranted to reduce the mental health burdens due to war and socio-political conflicts. This commentary aims to draw academic attention for geopsychiatric measures targeting the combat of mental health sufferings resulting from global socio-political conflicts.