Schizophrenia Daily News Blog

70% of Iraqi Children Suffering from Mental Stress Disorders

NPR reports today that on a new study of 2,500 kids, randomly chosen from a middle-income area of north Baghdad, to see if researchers could determine the effects of the war on their mental health. The study revealed that approximately 70% of children are showing clear symptoms of stress disorders from the high levels of ongoing violence and deaths in many neighborhoods of Iraq. While not mentioned in this report, psychiatrists would predict that without treatment, many of these children will suffer from long term mental health problems (depression, anxiety, and - for those genetically and biologically at risk, schizophrenia). The added difficulty is that most of the trained psychologists and psychiatrists have left Iraq due to fears of their own personal safety.

To Listen to the Report, go to this page: Iraqi Children Suffer Mental Stress from War and click on the "Listen" button.

Related Reading: Preventing Schizophrenia