Trigger warning: this article mentions outcomes and consequences of war that may be triggering – such as PTSD, violence, and rape.
Since the 20th century, the number of civilian casualties in war-torn countries has grown exponentially, reaching an estimate of more than 90%. Around half of the victims in such armed conflicts are children, with at least two million children dying as a direct result of war over the past decades. Furthermore, more than three times that number – at least six million children – have been critically injured, both physically and mentally.
Mental Disorders Developed in Child War Survivors
A study done on Kuwaiti children who had lived through the Gulf war found that 70% of the children showed symptoms of PTSD ranging from moderate to severe. Another study conducted in Palestine showed that 41% of the children in Gaza revealed a tendency to show moderate-to-severe PTSD symptoms as well. In short, these studies were carried out in two Middle Eastern countries at the time of armed conflict, and they clearly show that war and political violence has an effect on children at the psychological level. Many children who live within countries in turmoil are left with survivors’ guilt, shame, personality changes, substance-use disorders, anxiety, major depression, suicidal ideation, and traumatic stress.
Exposure to life-threatening events and acts of abuse through combat, abduction, detention, torture, rape, violent death of loved ones, separation from family members, and inadequate adult care leads to child war survivors being forced to deal with repeated, and thus cumulative, effects of PTSD. Subsequently, even long after war ceases, children may faceimpairing social, occupational, scholastic, economic, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional struggles, which in turn can hamper their healthy development and ability to function fully in the future, as well as even lose acquired developmental skills, such as the ability to speak.
Mental Disorder Symptoms Displayed by Child War Survivors
Child war survivors may live with chronic and intrusive distressing remembrances and nightmares of the war events in the form of images, thoughts, perceptions, or specific re-enactments of trauma through play. They may act or feel as if the traumatic event is recurring and thus try to continuously avoid stimuli associated with the trauma – and also numb their general responsiveness.
At the same time, they may display repeated symptoms of constant alertness and heightened autonomic arousal in the form of sweating, raised heartbeat, concentration difficulties, and even eating and sleeping problems. Subsequently, because of such frequent alarm responses that are easily prompted by trauma-related cues in daily life, these children may have psychosomatic complaints, such as stomachaches and headaches. Overall, such children could express hopelessness in relation to the future and ever growing up, and in extreme cases, they may even face psychosis-resembling symptoms like derealization and depersonalization. This could lead them to lives of recklessness, risk-taking, hyperactivity, defiance, aggression, and social withdrawal.
The Necessity of Psychological Support to Children in War
Children are innocent, fragile beings that must be safeguarded from all sorts of violence and abuse. Unfortunately, war has been a conclusion that humans have long sought to in times of disagreement, and even more unfortunate is the fact that war indiscriminately harms the innocent as much as the guilty. More often than not, children alongside adults fall victim to war, and if they are not harmed physically, they most likely are wounded mentally.
Keep in mind that if grown-ups can develop mental disorders from fighting in the army, then imagine being a child growing up in war. Humanitarian aid to such children not only in the form of food and shelter, but also in the form of psychological aid, should be an additional basic necessity. This is to ensure the help and support of these children to cope and grow into healthy adults who are able to rebuild their societies.