This commentary reflects on what Dostoevsky’s work offers contemporary psychiatry, showing how his portrayals of fractured selves, dissociation, shame and the ambivalent force of beauty deepen our understanding of trauma’s lived experience and highlight the psychological complexities that clinical language cannot always capture.

Suicidal ideation and trauma exposure are significant health challenges worldwide, and their interaction increases their burden on individuals and communities. However, limited research has been devoted to these conditions in low- and middle-income countries, where the majority of the burden of these disorders exists. Additionally, unique cultural factors that may contribute to differential relationships in these symptoms and disorders make this an important area to explore. This study examines relationships between the number and types of adverse exposures, PTSD symptoms and severity, depression and suicidal ideation in a sample of Cambodian women with experiences of trauma using logistic and linear regressions. Overall, PTSD severity significantly contributes to suicidal ideation, with hyperarousal symptoms playing a particularly influential role in this association. Further, adverse experiences, including physical abuse and parental mental health problems, contributed significantly to increased suicidal ideation. Lastly, depression severity partially mediates the relationship between PTSD severity and suicidal ideation. These results illustrate the significant role of PTSD in the experience of suicidal ideation, particularly within regions like Cambodia with high trauma loads. These findings point to psychological constructs that may be especially important to include in suicidality screening tools and to target within prevention and intervention efforts.

In 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria targeted the Yazidi ethno-religious minority in Sinjar, northern Iraq, abducting Yazidi boys aged 8 to 14 who endured violence, family separation and significant trauma exposure. Upon return, these children needed mental health care. This study investigates the availability of mental health services for male Yazidi former CAAFAGs (children associated with armed forces and armed groups) and discusses their rights under international legal frameworks.

The study used a convergent mixed-methods design involving male Yazidi former CAAFAGs and mental health providers in the Sinjar district and the Duhok governorate. Quantitative data were collected through a descriptive survey of thirty CAAFAGs and ten providers. Qualitative insights from semi-structured interviews with ten CAAFAGs and ten providers expanded on these findings, and the results were integrated into a joint display for interpretation.

Among the thirty CAAFAGs, 70% had not received any mental health care since their captivity. After captivity, 33% wanted (personal desire) mental health care; of those who wanted care, 80% received services through non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In contrast to this “personal desire” for care, 96.7% of male Yazidi former CAAFAGs acknowledged that they are in need of mental health care, yet only one is currently seeking it. Qualitative data revealed a gap in mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services specifically for male CAAFAGs, as NGOs focused more on female survivors. It also identified financial, personnel and logistical challenges for NGOs, as well as discrepancies between CAAFAGs and providers regarding perceived willingness to receive mental health care.

CAAFAGs and providers recognize an urgent need for tailored, trauma-informed MHPSS and reintegration services for male Yazidi former CAAFAGs. While NGOs play an essential role in delivering mental health care, their focus is primarily on female survivors, leaving a gap in support for male CAAFAGs. International legal frameworks protecting child victims’ rights remain inadequately respected in practice. Addressing these gaps is crucial for CAAFAGs’ successful reintegration and rehabilitation.

Suicide is a serious global health problem with ~73% deaths by suicide occurring in low- or middle-income countries (LMICs), many of which are among people experiencing humanitarian emergencies. Few guidelines outline specific steps and strategies to tackle suicide risk and manage post-attempt consequences in these settings, leaving program implementers with limited information to translate guidance to practice. This article describes the implementation of the Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA) suicide safety protocol as part of a randomized controlled trial in northern Thailand for displaced adults from Myanmar with chronic physical health conditions. The CETA safety protocol has been used in many trials and programs to screen for and manage suicide risk, including in a prior CETA effectiveness trial with Myanmar adults. In this article, we describe how this safety protocol was adapted for the study setting, and utilized to effectively screen, assess suicidal thoughts and behaviors, develop and manage action plans for study participants with active suicidal ideation. We present three illustrative case descriptions of individuals with whom we implemented the safety protocol to highlight how suicide risk intersects with physical illness, psychosocial stressors and structural vulnerability. Reflections on feasibility, acceptability and adaptations – such as language translation, culturally grounded referral pathways and training for nonspecialist providers – are shared to inform future implementation. Our findings support the implementation of suicide safety protocols within humanitarian programming and offer practical insights for global health practitioners and policymakers working in similarly complex settings.

Armed conflict devastates children across all regions and ideologies – inflicting profound and lasting harm on their bodies, minds, and developmental trajectories. While all sides may commit atrocities, the experience of children is tragically consistent: they are the least responsible, yet often the most harmed. This article traces the evolving global understanding of war’s impact on children, charting a journey in modern history to present-day realities. It begins with the landmark 1996 UN report by Graça Machel, which exposed the wide-ranging and systematic nature of the effects of war on children – where violence, displacement, and severed attachments force children into premature adulthood. Building on this, the 2009 and 2013 UN efforts codified the “Six Grave Violations” against children in armed conflict, now central to global monitoring and advocacy. Despite these frameworks and legal protections, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 2024 UN Secretary-General’s report shows violations have surged – up 21% in the past year alone. To bring these patterns into focus, the article concludes with a case study of Gaza. Chosen for its immediacy and visibility, Gaza is emblematic of the ongoing failure to shield children from war’s worst impacts. Similar suffering persists in Sudan, Myanmar, and Ukraine. The article calls for an urgent, universal imperative: end hostilities to protect children. A trauma-informed, attachment-sensitive approach – grounded in lessons from Rwanda, Bosnia, and Syria – is essential. Clinicians, humanitarians, and policymakers must place children at the heart of all post-conflict recovery and accountability efforts.

The Book of Chronicles stands out in the biblical context as it systematically, and at times literally, revisits historical events recounted in other biblical books like Samuel and Kings. This article aims to shed light on the phenomenon of this historical rewriting by employing Jeffrey Alexander’s cultural trauma theory. While Alexander’s theory has found application as a framework for interpreting specific biblical books in recent years, the uniqueness of the proposed article lies in its approach. Rather than applying Alexander’s theory to books written in close proximity to the traumatic events, such as the exile, the article seeks to explore its relevance in a book shaped approximately 250 years after the occurrence of the trauma.