THE MENTAL-HEALTH WAR-DAMAGED POPULATIONS

Melissa Parker This article draws upon the psychiatric, psychoanalytic and anthropological literature to show that we know very little about the psychological consequences of war and upheaval in the non-Western world. The small amount we do know suggests that while suffering is o ften intense, many of the therapeutic responses on offer are inappropr iate as they are informed by psychiatric and psychoanalytic thought an d practice which have little relevance to the majority of people livin g in the non-Western world.