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ories into their life stories and thereby Recent psychotherapy trials have Health Organization. Of the several
regain some emotional balance. achieved remarkable success in improv- dozen wars and armed conflicts around
After four 60- to 90-minute therapy ing the lives of war survivors such as Ab- the globe, nearly all are in developing
sessions, Abdul’s flashbacks and night- dul, poor mothers with postpartum de- countries, and this violence is leading to
mares disappeared; he was still easily pression and others victimized by the PTSD, which hinders recovery after the
history.”
Accordingly refugee therapists spent (Further Reading)
six weeks learning to help patients shape
◆ No Health without Mental Health. Martin Prince et al. in Lancet, Vol. 370, No. 9590,
their lives into a coherent story, incorpo- pages 859–877; September 8, 2007.
rating major traumas into the narrative. ◆ Treatment and Prevention of Mental Disorders in Low-Income and Middle-Income
The strategy worked. Seventy percent of Countries. Vikram Patel et al. in Lancet, Vol. 370, No. 9591, pages 991–1005;
September 15, 2007.
those who received the therapy no longer
◆ Both Lancet articles are available at www.globalmentalhealth.org
displayed significant PTSD symptoms ◆ The World Health Organization’s call to action on mental health: www.who.int/mental_
at a nine-month follow-up assessment health/mhgap/en/index.html