INTRODUCTION Our aim was to investigate is there association between level of religious moral beliefs and severity of PTSD symptoms, depressiion symptoms, anxiety and severity of alcohol abuse we tested 152 war veterans on presence of PTSD, depression symptoms, anxiety, alcohol misuse and level of religious moral beliefs. SUBJECTS AND METHODS We used Harvard trauma questionnaire (HTQ), Hopkins Check Scale SBCL 25, check list for alcohol misuse MAST. Subjects were assessed with regard to the level of belief in some basic ethical principles that arise from religious moral values. The score of religious moral belief index was used to correlate with severity of PTSD symptoms, depression symptoms, anxiety and severity of alcohol misuse. RESULTS Mean age of tested subjects was 40.8 (SD=6.6) years. The score of the moral belief index was negatively correlated to PTSD symptom severity and depressiveness (Pearson's r=-0.325, p<0.001; r=-0.247, p=0.005, respectively). Besides that the score of moral belief index negatively correlated with presented anxiety (Pearson's r=-0.199,p=0.026). Related to severity of tobacco and alcohol misuse we found negative association of these with the moral belief index (Pearson's r=-0.227, p=0.011; r=-0.371, p<0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION A higher index of religious moral beliefs in war veterans enables better control distress, providing better mental health stability. It enables post traumatic conflicts typical for combatants' survivors to be more easily overcome. It also causes healthier reactions to external stimuli. A higher index of religious moral beliefs of war veterans provides a healthier and more efficient mechanism of tobacco and alcohol misuse control. In this way, it helps overcoming postwar psychosocial problems and socialization of the personality, leading to the improvement in mental health.

J. M. G. Williams (1996) predicted that exposure to potentially traumatizing events at an early age would give rise to overgeneral recall from autobiographical memory, i.e., recall of general rather than specific events, and that in adolescence this tendency would be uncorrelated with psychopathological symptoms, e.g., depression. This was supported by two studies where war-exposed Bosnian adolescents produced significantly fewer specific autobiographical memories than a Norwegian control group, as did bombing-exposed Serbian adolescents compared to nontrauma-exposed Serbians. No significant correlations were found between autobiographical memory specificity and measures of depression, anxiety, dissociation or impact of trauma, which is consistent with Williams' idea that an overgeneral memory retrieval strategy is at first protective, and a risk factor for depression only upon reaching adulthood.

The authors describe the arrival and treatment of 164 severe chronic psychiatric patients who were displaced from the Serbian army-controlled Jakes psychiatric hospital and off-loaded on the afternoon of 28th of May, 1992 at the gates of the Psychiatry Clinic in Tuzla. Through analysis of their incomplete medical records, which arrived with the patients in Tuzla, and analysis of their activities during and after the war, they found that 83 of the patients (50%) were males and 147 (89.6%) were admitted to the Psychiatry Clinic in Tuzla. Of the patients, 86 (58.5%) were found to be Serbs. The majority of them were incapable of independent living and required ongoing medical and social care. They were from all regions of Bosnia-Herzegovina, 81.6% had schizophrenia and 70 (47.6%) were over 50 years of age. For its humanitarian work, its contribution to peace and for the maintenance of the multi-ethnic Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Psychiatry Clinic in Tuzla received the Golden Award for Peace from the International Legion of Humanists in May 1998.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) is located on the western part of the Balkan Peninsula. It has an area of 51 210 km2 and a population of 3 972 000. According to the Dayton Agreement of November 1995, which ended the 1992–95 war, BH comprises two ‘entities’ – the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBH) and the Republic of Srpska (RS) – and the District of Brcko. The administrative arrangements for the management and financing of mental health services reflect this. The FBH, with 2 325 018 residents, is a federation of 10 cantons, which have equal rights and responsibilities. The RS has 1 487 785 residents and, in contrast, a centralised administration. Brcko District has just under 80 000 residents.

BACKGROUND Majority of Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH) residents were exposed to cumulative traumatic events during and after the (1992-1995) war, which demanded emergency organizing of psychosocial support as well as psychiatric-psychological treatment of psychotraumatized individuals. OBJECTIVES To describe organizing of psychosocial help during and after the BH war, institutional treatment of psychotraumatized in the frame of mental health service reform program with an overview on the model of psychosocial support and psychiatry-psychological treatment of psychotraumatized persons of Tuzla Canton region. SUBJECTS AND METHODS The retrospective analysis of functioning in the Department for traumatic stress disorders on the Psychiatry Clinic in Tuzla for the 1999-2003 period has been described in regard of number, gender, age and trauma related mental disorders of referred patients. RESULTS In the observed period, 8.329 of patients in the outpatient care program were included, 617 of inpatients were treated in the Clinic, while 301 of patients in the Partial hospitalization program were included. Mean +/- standard deviation of patients' age was 45+/-8.06 years. More psychotraumatized women (60.8%) were encompassed in the partial hospitalization program than in inpatients (23.9%) or outpatients (18.3%) care programs. In regard of trauma related mental disorders, majority outpatients had Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in co morbidity with other mental disorders (72.5%), PTSD was presented amongst the majority of inpatients (64.5%) and in partial hospitalization program there were (47.5%) patients with PTSD. CONCLUSIONS In the treatment of psychotraumatized persons, in the organizing of health care system schema in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina, meaningful obstacles are presented still today on the both, social and political level, despite mental health service reform performed in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The stigmatization of mental health issues is an important problem in treatment of traumatized individuals especially among war veterans. The lack a single Center for psychotrauma in postwar BH shows absence of political will in BH to resolve the problem of war veterans with trauma related psychological disorders.

Background: Majority of Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH) residents were exposed to cumulative traumatic events during and after the (1992-1995) war, which demanded emergency organizing of psychosocial support as well as psychiatric-psychological treatment of psychotraumatized individuals. Objectives: To describe organizing of psychosocial help during and after the BH war, institutional treatment of psychotraumatized in the frame of mental health service reform program with an overview on the model of psychosocial support and psychiatry-psychological treatment of psychotraumatized persons of Tuzla Canton region. Subjects and methods: The retrospective analysis of functioning in the Department for traumatic stress disorders on the Psychiatry Clinic in Tuzla for the 1999-2003 period has been described in regard of number, gender, age and trauma related mental disorders of referred patients. Results: In the observed period, 8.329 of patients in the outpatient care program were included, 617 of inpatients were treated in the Clinic, while 301 of patients in the Partial hospitalization program were included. Mean ± standard deviation of patients’ age was 45±8.06 years. More psychotraumatized women (60.8%) were encompassed in the partial hospitalization program than in inpatients (23.9%) or outpatients (18.3%) care programs. In regard of trauma related mental disorders, majority outpatients had Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in co morbidity with other mental disorders (72.5%), PTSD was presented amongst the majority of inpatients (64.5%) and in partial hospitalization program there were (47.5%) patients with PTSD. Conclusions: In the treatment of psychotraumatized persons, in the organizing of health care system schema in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina, meaningful obstacles are presented still today on the both, social and political level, despite mental health service reform performed in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The stigmatization of mental health issues is an important problem in treatment of traumatized individuals especially among war veterans. The lack a single Center for psychotrauma in postwar BH shows absence of political will in BH to resolve the problem of war veterans with trauma related psychological disorders.

AIM The aim of this paper is to determine the influence of religious moral beliefs on the stability of adolescents' mental health. METHODS The sample consists of 240 mentally and physically healthy male and female adolescents attending a high school, who are divided into groups equalized by gender (male and female), age (younger 15, older 18 years); school achievement (very good, average student); behaviour (excellent, average); family structure (complete family with satisfactory family relations), and level of exposure to psycho-social stress (they were not exposed to specific traumatizing events). Subjects were assessed with regard to the level of belief in some basic ethical principles that arise from religious moral values. The score of religious moral belief index was used to compare two groups of subjects. For sample selection the measuring instruments were used to assess the religious, moral and social profile of subject. For the assessment of personality structure a standardized test battery (Freiburg's Personality Questionnaire/ Das Freiburger Personlichkeitsinventar - FPI, Profile Index of Emotions - PIE, Life Style Questionnaire - OM) was used to assess personality profile, emotional profile and subject's defence orientation. RESULTS The score of the moral belief index was negatively correlated to neuroticism and depressiveness (Pearson's r=-0.242, P<0.001; r=-0.311, P<0.001, respectively). Spontaneous and reactive aggressiveness and irritability were negatively correlated with the score of moral belief index (Pearson's r=-0.197, P=0.002; r=-0.147, P=0.023; r=-0.350, P<0.001, respectively). Emotional instability is negatively associated with the moral belief index of the investigated adolescents (Pearson's r=-0.324, P<0.001). The moral belief index was highly negatively correlated with repression (r=-0.206, P=0.001), regression (r=-0.325, P<0.001), compensation (r=-0.186, P=0.004), transfer (r=-0.290, P<0.001) and defensive orientation (r=-0.129, P=0.046). Verified intellectualisation and reactive formation are in positive correlation with the moral belief index among our investigated adolescents (Pearson's r=0.168, P=0.009; r=0.356; P<0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS A higher index of religious moral beliefs in adolescents enables better control of impulses, providing better mental health stability. It enables neurotic conflicts typical for adolescence to be more easily overcome. It also causes healthier reactions to external stimuli. A higher index of religious moral beliefs of young people provides a healthier and more efficient mechanism of anger control and aggression control. It enables transformation of that psychical energy into neutral energy which supports the growth and development of personality, which is expressed through socially acceptable behaviour. In this way, it helps growth, development and socialization of the personality, leading to the improvement in mental health.