Political violence and mental health: A multi-disciplinary review of the literature on Nepal
Open accessAbstract
Implementation of current international consensus guidelines regarding mental health and psychosocial support in emergencies requires the consideration of findings from both the medical and social sciences. This paper presents a multi-disciplinary review of reported findings regarding the relations between political violence, mental health and psychosocial wellbeing in Nepal. A systematic search of six databases resulted in the identification of 572 studies, of which 44 were included in the review. These studies investigated the influence of political violence on contextual variables that shape mental health and psychosocial wellbeing, and examined psychological distress and mental disorders in the context of political violence. The majority of studies addressed the mental health of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal and the impact of the Maoist People's War. Based upon these results from Nepal, we discuss a number of issues of concern to international researchers and practitioners and present policy and research recommendations. Specifically, we consider (a) the need for longitudinal multi-disciplinary research into protective and risk factors, including agency, of psychological distress and mental disorders in situations of political violence, (b) the continuing controversy regarding the PTSD construct, and (c) the lack of robust findings regarding the effectiveness of mental health and psychosocial support.
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Displacement can lead to disruptions of traditional family and community structures that support mental health.
“Displacement can lead to disruptions of traditional family and community structures that support mental health [3].”
From Mental health and psychosocial support for South Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda: a needs and resource assessment (2016) · cites this paper as [3]
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References 96 · Cited by 135
- Authors
- Tol, W. A., Kohrt, B. A., Jordans, M. J. D., Thapa, S. B., Pettigrew, J., Upadhaya, N., & de Jong, J. T. V. M.
- Affiliations
- HealthNet TPO (NL)
- Emory University (US)
- University of Oslo (NO)
- University of Limerick (IE)
- Corresponding author
- Tol, Wietse A.
- Venue
- Social Science & Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-01
- Volume
- 70
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 35-44
- ISSN
- 0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2013595948
- Cited by
- 135
- References
- 96
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 0.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-sa
- www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
- Locations
- Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Amsterdam UMC (VU Amsterdam) - Institutional Repository (publishedVersion)
- Arrow@dit (Dublin Institute of Technology) (acceptedVersion)
- University of Limerick Institutional Repository (University of Limerick) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Digital Academic REpository of VU University Amsterdam (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) (submittedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion)
- University of Limerick Institutional Repository (University of Limerick) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- University of Limerick Institutional Repository (University of Limerick)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Migration, Health and Trauma
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Conflict Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Keywords
- political violence, mental health, psychosocial well-being, psychological distress, mental illness, Bhutanese refugees, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychosocial support, risk and protective factors, agency, Nepal
- MeSH terms
- Mental Disorders, Humans, Mental Health, Nepal, Politics, Refugees, Social Support, Stress, Psychological, Violence, Warfare
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