Summaries This article draws upon the psychiatric, psycho‐analytic and anthropological literature to show that we know very little about the psychological consequences of war and upheaval in the non‐Western world. The small amount we do know suggests that while suffering is often intense, many of the therapeutic responses on offer are inappropriate as they are informed by psychiatric and psycho‐analytic thought and practice which have little relevance to the majority of people living in the non‐Western world.