result of mass violence. This has occurred against the background of already existing mental health problems, most usually termed ―common mental disorders‖ [CMD]. It is important to see the potential burden of disorders due to OVT within the context of the general psychological morbidity, for estimates of general morbidity will generally include disorders due to trauma. It is also important when it is realised that Unipolar Depressive Disorders are now one of the most common causes of non-communicable morbidity in Africa [Table 3 over]. Table 3: Rank order frequency of non-communicable causes of psychiatric morbidity, Africa compared to the World. Source: WHO. The Global Burden of Disease.2008 Cause Alcohol use disorders Migraine Insomnia (primary) Alzheimer and other dementias Unipolar depressive disorders Post-traumatic stress disorder Bipolar affective disorder Schizophrenia Obsessive-compulsive disorder Panic disorder Drug use disorders WORLD 6 15 14 7 2 11 3 4 12 13 9 AFRICA 12 4 16 25 3 17 15 19 10 14 26 There is one comment to be made about these statistics in the light of what is known about social contexts of mass violence, particularly in certain parts of Africa, and this is the contrast between the frequency of Unipolar Depressive Disorders and Post-traumatic Stress Disorders [PTSD]: given the frequency of war and low-intensity conflict in parts of Africa in recent decades, it seems improbable that PTSD would be so less common than Unipolar Depressive Disorders, but, once the notion of Depression being a consequence of PTE‘s is accepted, then this difference is more readily understood. And, furthermore, outside of psychiatric clinics and care by mental health care professionals, it is probable that both Unipolar Depressive Disorders and PTSD would be more generally covered under the rubric of Common Mental Disorders [CMD]. And it should be remembered here that the rates for co-morbidity between depression and PTSD are very high, with the caveat noted from the research mentioned earlier that torture and PTEs can co-exist as well. The general mental health picture that obtains in Zimbabwe indicates that CMD have been increasing in Zimbabwe over the past three decades. These are summarised in Table 4 [over]. The first epidemiological studies indicated a picture that is largely similar to that obtaining in western countries as well as in African countries, with prevalence rates of roughly between 20 to 30%. Some rates were higher, but generally the pattern was similar to that seen in many parts of of Africa.xii However, it appears that the rates have shifter upwards in a dramatic fashion in recent years, as seen in a recent unpublished community survey in Harare, which showed a prevalence rate of nearly 40%. There was also a marked shift in the risk factors associated with CMD, with experience of violence increasing risk significantly, and most startling the association with having goods confiscated, which increased the risk by 14 times. Thus, it would appear that not only has the deteriorating socio-economic environment had a deleterious effect on the mental health of Zimbabweans, but also that the increased levels of violence have been having an effect. More than a decade of HIV related illness and mortality is also highly likely to have had a major impact on levels of psychological morbidity, in the form of multiple, cumulative bereavements. Here we refer to unpublished and therefore non peer reviewed studies which may weaken the strength of the evidence. However such studies still provide useful approximations of Zimbabwean realities. It is unlikely that formal studies that are published and peer reviewed will become available until