NATO AGRESIJA NA JUGOSLAVIJU 1999. GODINE I PSIHOLOŠKE POSLEDICE
NATO AGRESIA IN YUGOSLAVIA 1999. AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES

Summary/Abstract: In this paper we attempted to point to appearance of many mental disorders which are directly caused by bombing. War is a huge stress that also lasts relatively long. This is precisely the reason why war is considered to be an ecological disaster which causes water, air and soil polution thus damaging humans as well, both physicaly and mentally. Numerous factors contribute to appearance of physical and mental disorders during the war such as: beaing a refugee, temparary of permanent detachment from home, hiding in shelters - which disrupts regular living, environment pollution caused by usage of dangerous chemical and radioactive materials, constant noise etc. All of these points to the fact that both physical and mental health are endangered during the war. Studies of NATO bombings of Yugoslavia in 1999. conclude that NATO aircrafts deployed total of 15 tons of depleted uranium during the period of aggression(half life of depleted uranium is 4,5 bilion years). Depleted uranium munition explosions created a micro dust, which was then spread over whole of Serbia and the Balkans as well. The greeks conducted a study which determined that radiation levels have gone up by 20-30 percent in that country alone just two and a half months after the bombing of Serbia. A study made by Marija Zotovic was conducted fourteen months after the bombing of Serbia on a sample of 629 children and adolescents from Vojvodina (northern Serbia). It shows that the symptoms of PTSD (mid to severe form) are present in almost 60% of children and adolescents. This means that damage caused by bombing is not something that comes by effortlessly, fast or just by passage of time. Symptoms of depression were present with a significantly lower number of children and adolescents. To conclude, war as an ecological disaster leads to physical diseases consequent to environment pollution by chemical and radioactive materials as well as mental disorders consequest to being exposed to constant stress over a long period of time, both of which manifest mainly through PTSD.

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