In 1994, a study by the Hamilton County Community Mental Health Board found that about 18 percent of the county's population have a diagnosable mental illness or mental disorder. Ohio also has many more people than Bosnia to help with the treatment of mental illness. The state has more than 5,500 licensed psychologists and psychiatrists and thousands of others working in the mental health field. In all walks of life, war stress is apparent, said Dr. Ceric. Elderly men can't sleep.
Elderly women cry uncontrollably.
Husbands become violent. Wives, burnt out after years of scrounging meals for their families, suffer mental exhaustion. Children, many kept in their homes for four years by fearful parents, are now terrified to have those parents leave their sight. Dr. Ceric said the mental health department is trying to set up community treatment centers to hold group therapy sessions to reach as many people as possible. But the shortage of staff and funds makes the task seem impossible.