Every time a war comes, it leaves behind scars that are sometimes beyond repair. These fights are not between two parties, they have the potential to bring down everything around them. This post war effects prevail in many fields. Let us discuss some of them.
What happens to a country after war?
The parties involved in the countries involved in wars have devastating effects. During the war, people lose their lives. They lose homes and peace of mind. The nation as a whole face huge consequence. They lose financial stability. There are enormous amounts of interpersonal violence and displaced people. It also has a long-lasting impact on the environment with the debris left from the war. Though wars have some positive outcomes, it comes with a huge price for every innocent to pay.
While conflict between two nations can occur because of many reasons. Over the course of time, one observes that conflicts have centered around ethnic and religious differences many in parts of Africa and Asia including countries like Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Cambodia, and others. But love and war see no boundaries. With that, let us discuss the economic trauma wars have on the parties involved.
Economic trauma:
The countries involved in a war take a huge hit for participating in it. With a huge amount of money spent on equipment, the nation faces a collapsed economy. It takes the parties involved a huge amount of money and other resources to return to stability. In 2019, the average cost of violence in major conflict-affected countries is equal to 41% of their gross domestic product (GDP). But, in comparison, the average economic cost of violence in peaceful countries amounts to a mere 3.9 per cent of their GDP. War brings major problems like poverty, increase in deficit, inflation, and loss of currency value in the global market to name a few.
These economic problems prevail till this day in several countries. For instance, South Sudan is Using Mobile Money to Reignite the Economy. They are still recovering from the civil war that claimed over 4,00,00 lac lives. This war led to South Sudan's economy to collapse. Till this day, they have been trying to recover from it.
Psychological and Social trauma:
The havoc that war causes in people in society is immaculate. People not only lose loved ones but they also lose their homes, and businesses. It also takes a huge toll on their mental health as well. Any traumatic event is scary and uncomfortable to deal with. This leads to them developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Children lose their families. They go into either witnessing or participating in killings and other uncomfortable experiences. The affected are witness to the horrors of the conflict post its occurrence. Many women are either abused or forced to take up roles to support their families. The survivors are prone to mental disorders like long term anxiety and depression.
Psychological trauma does not only limit itself to survivors. The soldiers who fought in the war face moral conflict within themselves. This combined with witnessing people dying every day shatters their self-image. This effect seeps into their social life. They lose their social skills and are clouded with constant feelings of guilt, shame, and anger. In the United States of America, some programs have been designed to help the veterans of war. One of them is Impact of Killing (IOK) treatment program. This program works on emphasizing self-forgiveness. It also helps veterans make amends, heal relationships, plan for their future, and move forward.
References
The Psychological Costs of War: Military Combat and Mental Health. (n.d.). NBER. https://www.nber.org/digest/aug11/psychological-costs-war-military-combat-and-mental-health
Rachana Prakash @ReadLead Apr 12, 2022, 19:14 IST. (2022, April 12). War: The effect on economic growth. Times of India Blog. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/readlead/war-the-effect-on-economic-growth-42491/
Social acceptance helps mental health after war trauma. (2019, July 9). National Institutes of Health (NIH). https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/social-acceptance-helps-mental-health-after-war-trauma
Thelwell, K. (2020, January 18). 3 Examples of Countries Recovering from War Today. The Borgen Project. https://borgenproject.org/countries-recovering-from-war/