Relentless Afghan conflict leaves traumatized generation

Psychologists working there say children who have known nothing but fighting since the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban government more than a decade ago are especially vulnerable.

The generation born after 2001 when the international community entered Afghanistan might be 10, 11 year olds now, and I've been seeing 11 year olds and 10 year olds nowadays who are presenting with so many mental health problems: nightmares, depression, anxiety, incontinence, said Mohammad Zaman Rajabi, clinical psychology advisor at the hospital.

Men, women and children come for treatment with drugs, counselling, group therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy.

TRAUMATIZED GENERATION

If, in a family, there are problems every day it's obvious that the family members are not well and cannot serve each other properly, said Taiba Alkazai, a psychologist at the hospital.

In the same way, if there is fighting in a country then its people won't be happy.

The fear of suicide bomb attacks, roadside bombs, and the overall level of violence in Afghanistan - of which civilians bear the brunt, with the number killed rising in 2011 for the fifth straight year to more than 3,000, according to the United Nations - can lead to anxiety, panic and obsession.

The physical aspects of war (last) for a limited time, but the

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