Context:In April 2015, a major earthquake struck northern regions of Nepal affecting one-third of the population, and many suffered mental health problems.Aims:This study aimed to conduct a preliminary investigation of prevalence and feasibility of brief therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among earthquake survivors.Settings and Design:This is an exploratory cross-sectional study of prevalence and feasibility of brief trauma-focused therapy for PTSD among survivors 3 and 11 months after the earthquake in affected areas near Kathmandu.Methodology:A team of local nonspecialist mental health volunteers was trained to identify survivors with PTSD using the PTSD checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (PCL-5) (cutoff score 38). They were trained to deliver either shortened versions of narrative exposure therapy (NET)-revised or group-based control-focused behavioral treatment (CFBT).Results:Altogether, 333 survivors were surveyed (130 in July 2015 and 203 in March 2016) with PCL-5 as the screening instrument, using the cutoff score of 38 or more for diagnosing PTSD. A PTSD prevalence of 33% was noted in 2015 and 28.5% in 2016. This drop of 4.5% prevalence in the intervening 8 months suggests that a significant number of survivors are still suffering from PTSD. Most participants were female, aged 40 or above, married, and poorly educated. Compared to the brief (four sessions) individual NET-revised, a group-based CFBT was found more acceptable and affordable.Conclusions:PTSD is common following earthquake trauma, and if untreated, survivors continue to suffer for a long time. Management of PTSD should be included in future disaster management plans.

Introduction: Mental illness is major global public health problem affecting over 450 million people, most of whom live in developing countries. Nepal just overcame ten years long conflict situation. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression is most prevalent in conflict inflicted areas as per most literatures. Much is not known about the psychological effects of the conflict situation, even after six years of peace process in Nepalese context.Material and Method: This is a cross sectional descriptive study carried out to explore the prevalence of Post-traumatic stress disorder and Depression in Nepalese army combatants involved during the armed insurgency period and its relationship with different. It was conducted in two randomly selected battalions of tenth brigade in Kathmandu. The PTSD was assessed using Post traumatic stress disorder checklist - military version (PCL-M), depression was assessed using the Beck depression inventory (BDI) and degree of combat exposure was assessed using Combat exposure scale (CES). The quantitative assessment was done using appropriate methods and tools.Results The degree of combat exposure showed 48.8% exposed to moderate and above degree of combat exposure. PTSD was found in 21.9% of the combats and 20.5% were found to have depression. Both PTSD and depression were found to be associated with degree of combat exposure. There was statistically significant association between degree of combat exposure and PTSD (p= 0.001, 95% CI (1.567-6.303)) and depression (p=0.011, 95% CI (1.209-4.830)).Conclusion: PTSD and depression exists even six years after the peace process in Nepalese army and is related to the degree of combat exposure regardless of other attributes like age, sex, rank, marital status.J Psychiatrists’ Association of Nepal Vol .6(1), 2017, p.24-28