Psychiatry in times of war and armed conflicts

Armed conflicts are major global determinants of illness, producing acute and chronic burden across mental health, population wellbeing, and societal stability. Current surveillance highlights high lethality in Myanmar, Sudan, the Palestinian Territories, and the Russia-Ukraine regions, alongside persistent low-intensity violence in Afghanistan, Mexico, and Yemen. Beyond mortality and physical injury, conflicts generate complex psychological, social, and structural sequelae across the life span. Contemporary war psychiatry has expanded from a narrow focus on trauma to an integrated biopsychosocial and socioecological framework. Epidemiological evidence shows substantially elevated rates of depressive, anxiety, post-traumatic, and severe mental disorders in conflict-exposed populations, with increased vulnerability among children, women, older adults, displaced persons, and humanitarian workers. Neurobiological studies document disruptions in stress-regulatory systems and corticolimbic circuits, while psychosocial research highlights cumulative adversity, social fragmentation, and moral injury. Conflicts also undermine the social determinants of health, destabilizing livelihoods, education, communities, and national health systems, thereby widening inequities and deepening the mental health treatment gap. Effective responses require culturally informed, scalable, and contextually grounded interventions, including trauma-focused therapies, community-based psychosocial approaches, and digital platforms, embedded within broader humanitarian, policy, and reconstruction strategies. A coordinated, multidisciplinary approach is essential to mitigate psychiatric morbidity and support long-term societal recovery.