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Copyright of Proceedings of the Sarajevo Philogy Meetings / Sarajevski Filoloski Susreti is the property of Bosnian Philological Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Health care system is conventionally regarded as an important determinant in promoting the general physical and mental health and contributes to the ultimate goal of societal well-being. Is health care system ready to meet every person's needs considering age and different traumatic experience? Several aspects of psychological well-being, such as level of happiness, hope, good everyday feeling, etc., subjective attitude towards own life and traumatic experiences were assessed in the study. The participants indicated how frequently they turn to mental health professionals for help and take antidepressants or sedatives. Three generations of Lithuanian residence were selected: young adults (average age: 23) representatives of the middle generation (average age: 47) and elderly persons (average age: 67). The data were compared with the experience of persons, who have suffered specific traumas (suicide attempters, injured freedom defenders and Chernobyl clean-up workers). Overall 667 participants filled the questionnaire. The results confirm the phenomenon, that the rates of subjective health are the best in youngest group and worsen with the age. Similarly, the study participants tend to use more antidepressants and sedatives with age. Though, the representatives of all generations equally rarely turn to mental health professionals for help. Particular prospect emerges if different traumatized groups are analyzed. In terms of psychological well-being, the suicide attempters stand out: they are the least happy and have the least hope for the future. Injured freedom defenders and Chernobyl clean-up workers rated their health the worst, but only the injured freedom defenders are the most likely to take antidepressants or sedatives and to turn to mental health professionals for help. Concluding, the state health care system can only provide mental health services to those individuals who seek help themselves, while it is important to offer psychosocial help more actively to those who have experienced major traumas, because psychologically suffering people will not necessarily seek and search for specialized assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The raging debate around the viability of reparations historically has focused on the debt due for the long term affects of slavery. African Americans' daily interactions with whites, in many instances, could result in physical assaults, imprisonment, or death. Yet, in spite of the consequences of these interactions, African Americans in their daily lives worked in the homes, businesses, and fields of white employers. The narratives of the experiences during legal segregation are similar, in many ways, to the narratives of the experiences during slavery with one exception. In this paper, we explore the viability of making a case for reparations, for the living. Using qualitative methods and content analysis we examined the oral accounts of older African Americans who lived through legal segregation. They share the ways in which the oppressive system of legal segregation affected their lives. We explore the effects of stress on their health, the patterns of inequality across the life span, and the potential psychological damage. However, African Americans are still attempting to heal the wounds stemming from the cycles of fear, victimization, and resistance to racism. To alleviate the effects on the health and minds of African Americans the trauma needs acknowledging--as do as their stories of courage, rebellion, and resistance--by the dominant society and by many African Americans as well. Reparations will assist in healing the race problems that plaque this country. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]