The Invisible Wounds of War: Somatic Manifestations of Psychosocial Trauma Among Women in Communal Land Conflict Areas in South Western Nigeria

Abstract

Globally, the health impacts of communal conflict are often measured in mortality and physical injury, while the pervasive, non-visible somatic manifestations of psychosocial trauma remain critically under-diagnosed and untreated. This qualitative study investigates the somatic experiences of women affected by the protracted communal land conflict in Ilobu, Ifon-Osun, and Erin-Osun, Nigeria. Based on a phenomenological research design, data were collected through 12 in-depth interviews, 3 focus group discussions, and 9 key informant interviews with affected women, community leaders, and health workers. Thematic analysis reveals that women's psychological trauma is profoundly embodied, presenting as a spectrum of somatic disorders including reproductive health complications (pregnancy loss, menstrual irregularities), chronic pain, gastrointestinal distress, cardiovascular issues like hypertension, and severe sleep disorders. These symptoms are directly linked by participants to the chronic fear, displacement, and economic devastation experienced during the conflict. The findings underscore a critical gap in humanitarian and clinical responses, which are ill-equipped to recognize or treat trauma expressed through physical ailments. The study concludes that effective intervention in conflict zones requires a paradigm shift towards integrated, trauma-informed healthcare that bridges the mind-body divide, particularly for women who bear a disproportionate burden of gendered precarity.