Abstract
A 55-year-old Bosnian refugee, newly arrived in Australia, attended a trauma treatment service complaining of frightening flashbacks, difficulties concentrating, extreme anxiety, nightmares, and insomnia. During the war, he had been drafted into the local militia and soon found himself on the front line. He spoke with guilt about the deaths of those he felt forced to shoot (“I was forced to kill my countrymen in a war that I never supported”). After a few days, a mortar shell landed in his trench, killing several of his friends and inflicting horrific injuries on others. The front was overrun, and he fled to his home, hiding with his family in the cellar.
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Silove, D., Kinzie, J.D. (2001). Survivors of War Trauma, Mass Violence, and Civilian Terror. In: Gerrity, E., Tuma, F., Keane, T.M. (eds) The Mental Health Consequences of Torture. The Plenum Series on Stress and Coping. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1295-0_11
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