Globalization, Conflict and Mental Health

Abstract

Violent conflict for political ends, including war and civil war, is a major cause of mental ill health and although there are different approaches and ways to understand this relationship some consensus is emerging on the psychological, social and cross sector responses to post conflict situations. Globalization has changed the relationships of nation states, corporations and international organizations creating different patterns of political violence and different ways to organize the responses. Victims, weapons and humanitarian aid are considered within a public mental health framework, describing the consequences of war and other forms of political violence. Secondary and primary levels of intervention in public mental health consider the monitoring, preparation for and prevention of political violence, taking the new sciences of human relationships as a basis to look at international relationships. The need to re-establish a reformed United Nations at the centre of global decision making and to increase the global expenditure on peace making are two conclusions from this analysis.