We welcome Gordon Brown’s powerful focus on the traumatic effects of war on children in Iran (Children killed, a school turned into a graveyard: even in wartime, we can’t accept this, 12 March). In our work with child psychologists in Ukraine, Gaza and other conflict zones, we have seen how wars blight the lives not only of children who are injured but also of those who lose their homes, families and communities.
Disrupted schooling, displacement to other countries, bereavement in their peer group and family, witnessing the horrors of conflict and feeling the terrors of air raids or ground attacks – all of these catastrophic experiences can lead to lifelong psychological disturbance.
