Aim. To present the experiences compiled while providing psychological help to refugees and displaced persons in the beginning of the 1991/92 war against Croatia. Methods. The data were compiled through interviews, structured questionnaires and direct observation during psychotherapeutic help in individual and group work. Results. In children and adolescents, traumatic factors dominating in the beginning of the displacement caused by the war referred primarily to the war activities: shooting, shelling and bombing. In adults, these traumatic factors were increased by their concern over their homes that they had been forced to abandon. Emotional responses to the war traumas in children were primarily panic, fear and tension, while those in adolescents (anger, fear, anxiety, depression) and adults (anxiety, depression) were similar. In the first phase of the exile, defense mechanisms of the adults were rationalization, projection, regression and repression, while negation, identification, isolation and other mechanisms were distinctly less present. Conclusion. Self control, self disclosure and altruism were the most important variables of mental health and positive emotional relations in the emotional reaction to war trauma. Their recognition and analysis are necessary for a successful provision of psychological support to war-traumatized persons.

displaced persons Refugees Defense mechanisms Emotional reactions war trauma

anxiety self disclosure battle injury depression refugee psychological aspect mental health human tension anger Yugoslavia panic interview altruism psychotherapy school child Adolescent male female questionnaire Article emotion major clinical study adult self control defense mechanism Fear