Air attacks of NATO forces and mental health of adolescents and adults

Ataques aéreos de las fuerzas de la NATO y salud mental de adolescentes y adultos

The NATO forces air attacks on Yugoslavia in 1999 lasted 78 days. All the citizens of the country were exposed, but at differing frequencies and to different kinds of stressful events during and immediately following the attacks as they lived at various geographical distances from the area where the most traumatic events occurred.

The aim of this research, conducted during the last weeks of the NATO attacks, was to study the effects of this unique challenge on the mental health of affected individuals. A sample of 368 adolescents and adults was drawn from two cities, Novi Sad and Zrenjanin. Novi Sad was heavily bombed every day during the campaign. The citizens of Zrenjanin, a town geographically close to Novi Sad, were exposed to threats, air raid sirens, sounds of army aircrafts carrying bombs over flying the town, and they worried for their friends and relatives in Novi Sad, but the town itself was never targeted.

Various instruments were used to assess the type and intensity of reactions. The results indicated the following:

• 63.3% of subjects reported suffering from severe symptoms of PTSD (if mild reactions are included then up to 90% of the sample reported some symptoms of PTSD);
• 15.8% reported having symptoms of depressive disorder and 23.4% had symptoms of severe anxiety;
• A significant correlation was found between PTSD, depression and anxiety;
• The most intriguing result seems to be that the intensity of symptoms experienced was not significantly different between the samples drawn from the two cities. In other words, real exposure to bombing or "only" a threat of potential bombing caused the same intensity of suffering and consequent reactions.