Mental health consequences of armed conflicts in adults: an overview
Keywords:
Adults, Mental health, Armed conflicts, Violence, War. (MeSH)Abstract
Introduction. Armed conflicts (AC) in the world are still active and lead to the growth of violence, with a possible impact on mental health (MH).
Objective. to identify and synthesize the different consequences of AC on MH in the adult population in an overview of the literature.
Methods. Systematic search for reviews until May 2020 in MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, LILACS and additional resources. The results were analyzing narratively, describing the characteristics of the studies, participants, and consequences in the MH. An analysis was made based on the year range of reviews’ publication identified.
Results. Fifty-nine studies were included. The most representative populations were survivors, victims, and refugees. In general, among the symptoms predominant in relation to traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression were found fear, insecurity, panic, re-experimentation, sadness, anger, and violent behavior. Additionally, results were identified regarding vulnerable groups such as women, refugees, and combatants. Finally, other consequences linked with physical, social, cultural, occupational, and economic dimensions were detailed.
Conclusions: There are multiple consequences of AC in adult MH referent to depression and traumatic stress, with some kind clinical manifestations like dissociative, emotional instability, hostility, and cognitive impairment.
