detoxification of alcoholics. The alcohol history was assessed through a structured questionnaire. Reliable data on the history of medical disorders (liver diseases, pancreatitis, gastritis, gastric or duodenal ulcer, pneumonia, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease or brain trauma) were available for 43 patients. Results: Of the study 71.7% had current somatic problems or disorders. The most often are gastrointestinal disease pathology consisted of cardio-vascular diseases (stage II–III hypertension, ischemic heart disease, autonomic vascular dystonia), more cerebral degeneration, liver disease or alcoholic polyneuropathies. In our sample 36.7% are divorced; and 40% have heredity. Conclusions: Alcoholism is a major contributor to the physical ill-health. Treatment or rehabilitation of addictive behavior should be of major concern for adequate service planning or provision.

INTRODUCTIONPosttraumatic stress disorder and disorders related to alcohol use and other psychoactive substances often appear in comorbidity. Exposure to combat is linked with a higher risk of psychiatric disorders and alcohol related disorders in veterans.1·2 The connection between PTSD and disorders related with the use of alcohol and other psychoactive substances is complex. Disorders related to alcohol use and other psychoactive substances and PTSD are especially prevalent in war veterans who experienced fierce combat. Research also points to other possible variables such as family history, individual stress response, use of alcohol and psychoactive substances prior to and after exposure to combat.3 The beginning of alcoholism and psychoactive substance dependence is correlated with the beginning of PTSD symptoms while the increase in use is parallel to the intensification of symptoms.4 Breslau, Davis and Schultz5 found that the risk for the development of nicotine, psychoactive substance and alcohol dependence is increased in individuals exposed to trauma and who developed PTSD, while a significantly lover risk of dependence was found in those who were exposed to trauma but who have not developed PTSD. They also found that exposure to trauma itself, with or without PTSD, was not a predictor for the development of dependence. Other authors report that war veterans consume alcohol more frequently because of fear and anxiety, which is a result of exposure to frequent stressful situations.6 Stewart et al.7 found a significant and strong correlation between symptoms of re-experiencing and high arousal, and alcohol use in volunteers with PTSD who worked on relief after a plane crash. Contrary to this finding, den Velde et al.8 did not find any correlation between PTSD symptoms and alcohol consumption in a study on Holocaust victims and World War ? veterans with chronic PTSD. We set the goal ofthe paper in line with the mentioned studies on the association of alcohol intake and symptoms of PTSD: examining the correlation between the level of stress, number of traumatic events, intensity of PTSD symptoms and the use of alcohol in the group of war veterans with clinically diagnosed PTSD and the group of soldiers-war veterans who were not clinically diagnosed with PTSD during the period of research.SUBJECTS AND METHODSThe study was conducted at the Department of Psychiatry ofthe University Clinical Center in Tuzla and among soldiers - war veterans in the barracks in Tuzla during 2004 and 2005. The inclusion criteria were age between 30 and 50 years and participation in combat during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. The exclusion criterion for all subjects was the use of alcohol before the war, while for the soldiers - war veterans it was non-psychiatric treatment prior to the research period. The research included 130 war veterans diagnosed with PTSD at the Department of Psychiatry in the University Clinical Center in Tuzla and 120 soldiers - war veterans of the Army of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina from the barracks in Tuzla. The soldiers were granted consent to participate in the research by the Ministry of Defense of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A total of 250 war veterans were included in the research, out of which a stratified sample of 200 war veterans was formed. Data on hospital treated war veterans were obtained from the hospital admission protocol and anamnesis at the Department of Psychiatry in Tuzla. Of the total 1166 patients treated from January 2002 to January 2003, 130 (11.2%) were war veterans with PTSD. All 130 war veterans whose addresses were found in the hospital protocol were invited by letter to participate in the research. 1 13 out of 130 responded to the invitation to participate. Of the 1 13 war veterans who responded, 6 did not satisfy the inclusion criteria and during the research procedure 7 out of 107 war veterans gave up participating in further research. …

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.

AIM The aim was to analyse contacts network and satisfaction with contacts among children of parents with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). SUBJECT AND METHODS The sample consisted of 100 pupils (age 10 to 15) from two randomly chosen schools. Children were selected from general population, lived with both parents who have had war traumatic experiences. They agreed to participate in psychometric research. We divided them in two groups: observed (0) group of children (N=50) whose parents were showing symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and control (C) group of children (N=50) whose parents did not show symptoms of PTSD (evaluated by Harvard trauma questionnaire-BiH version). Contact network was examined by a Map of Contact Network which includes contact and satisfaction with persons in close environment. In relation to gender representatives of fathers and mothers, sample was homogenous. RESULTS The most important persons in children whose parents are showing symptoms of PTSD were schoolmates (88.0%), home mate (86.0%), mother (72.0%), and father (2.0%). At children whose parents did not show symptoms of PTSD, most important persons were schoolmate (94.0%), mother (80.0%), brother (6.0%), grandfather (8.0%), and father (14.0%). The most distinct disappointment in contacts in children with parents with PTSD symptoms were family, relatives and friends, in school and formal contacts (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION Children of parents who have had symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the most important persons that they communicate were schoolmates and they had problem in communicating with fathers and males. According to satisfaction children whose parents suffered from PTSD were showing distinction in contacts with their families, relatives, schoolmates and formal contacts.

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 To assess the frequency of silent brain infarcts and cerebral cortical atrophy in psychiatric patients with cognitive dysfunction. METHODS One hundred and ninety four patients with cognitive dysfunction determined by the use of the Benton Visual Retention Test and Wechsler Memory Scale were analyzed according to age, gender, education, duration of psychiatric treatment, presence of mental disorders, neurological findings, and CT scan of neurocranium. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS Average age of the group of patients studied was 48+/-9.7 years, and average duration of psychiatric treatment was 6+/-7.3 years. Regarding mental disorders, patients suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in comorbidity with depression (21.1%), depressive disorder (14.4%), Complex PTSD (13.9%), PTSD (11.3%), and post-concussion syndrome (7.7%). Cerebral cortical atrophy was determined in 47.4%, silent brain infarct in 3.6%, whereas the combination of cerebral cortical atrophy and silent brain infarct was found in 26.3% of patients. In 22.6% of patients with cognitive dysfunction on the Benton Visual Retention Test and Wechsler Memory Scale CT scan findings were completely normal. Cerebral cortical atrophy was more frequent in patients with PTSD in comorbidity with depression (43%), PTSD (39.0%), Complex PTSD (26%), depression (25%), whereas the silent brain infarct was more frequent in patients with post-concussion syndrome (53.3%) and depression (42.8%). CONCLUSION Cerebral cortical atrophy and silent brain infarct are frequent findings in computerized tomography of the brain in psychiatric patients with cognitive dysfunction. Cerebral atrophy is frequent in patients with PTSD, whereas in patients with depression, besides cerebral atrophy, silent brain infarct is also frequently present.