SANP Swiss Archives of Neurology, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy 2297-7007 2297-6981 EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG Farnsburgerstrasse 8 CH-4132 Muttenz 03037 10.4414/sanp.2019.03037 Minireview Mental and behavioural disorders due to psychoactive substance use The invisible wounds of armed conflict Tschakarjan Senop stschakarjan@icrc.org Ortega Mateo Jaramillo 11 08 2019 170 04 0 0 Copyright: EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG 2019 EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG "Swiss Archives of Neurology, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy" is an open access publication of EMH published in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons licence attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives 4.0 International. You are free to share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format under the following terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material. "Non-commercial" means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation. The incorporation of publications in commercial products, the use of publications to advertise for commercial products or services and any other usage that directly or indirectly pursues commercial interests is subject to the express previous consent of the publishing house as part of a written agreement. Please send us your request in writing. Exact indication of the publication from which you would like to reproduce material and detailed information about its intended use help to facilitate and expedite request processing. <p>The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works to ensure that people affected by conflict and other situations of violence have access to basic health care – including mental health care – that meets universally recognized standards. As part of its health-care activities, the ICRC has increased its response to mental health and psychosocial needs considerably. It now runs over 120 mental health and psychosocial support projects involving more than 260 expatriate and local mental health professionals in 50 different countries, compared with just ten projects in eight countries back in 2010. A growing number of studies underscore the importance of mental health and psychosocial support. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in four people in the world are affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. This accounts for 13% of the total global burden of disease. People affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence are particularly vulnerable; they are likely to develop new mental health problems, and pre-existing mental disorders may also resurface or be exacerbated. Conflict situations also put a further strain on health-care systems with already scarce or inadequate resources, undermining their ability to provide high-quality care to those who need it the most. South Sudan, for example, has a population of 13 million but only one local psychiatrist and no psychologists. In 2017, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) developed guidelines to frame the organization’s approach to mental health and psychosocial needs during and after armed conflict and other situations of violence. The guidelines aim to harmonize mental health and psychosocial support projects within the organization, combining international evidence-based recommendations and best practices and drawing on the expertise of teams working for the ICRC in various contexts around the world.</p>