In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), armed violence leaves more than just visible ruins; it also devastates minds. In Goma, the war has plunged a portion of the population into increasing psychological distress, often without adequate support. This has created difficult conditions to build peace.
Since the end of January 2025, the city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, has been under the control of M23 rebels. This takeover occurred following violent clashes with the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) in the heart of the urban area. According to the United Nations (UN), the fighting caused the death of over 3,000 people and left thousands injured in Goma. As M23 continued to advance through eastern DRC, hundreds of thousands were displaced and a total of around 7,000 people were killed in the region in early 2025.
Beyond human losses and material destruction, this war has left deep psychological scars. “My daughter was fine before the war,” Noëlla Manegabe, a mother, told Peace News Network (PNN). “After the fighting, she no longer understood simple instructions. When asked for a jerrycan, she would bring back a saucepan. I thought it was just a headache until doctors directed me to a mental health center.”
Since March, the Saint Vincent de Paul Psychiatric Center, located in Goma, has seen its number of consultations triple. Eugène Bashombe, a psychologist at the facility, said that over 700 new patients were admitted in a few weeks. “They suffer from post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety disorders. The war has exacerbated an already concerning situation,” Bashombe said.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has experienced recurrent armed conflicts for over three decades, particularly in the North and South Kivu provinces. These conflicts began with the assassination of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana and the subsequent Rwandan genocide in 1994. The crisis spilled into DRC, which at the time was called Zaire, leading to the theft of land and natural resources and identity conflicts, in addition to problems related to poor governance. The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dr. Denis Mukwege mentions a human toll of over six million deaths. But added to this figure is a collective trauma difficult to quantify.
According to Bashombe and another two experts PNN spoke with, the recent wave of violence, marked by the takeover of Goma and Bukavu between January and February 2025, has plunged thousands of people into psychological distress. This reality is often ignored by authorities in a country where mental health infrastructure is nearly non-existent and where access to care remains out of reach for the majority of the population. Nathalie Chibanguka, a clinical psychologist in Goma, said, “Psychological suffering is still taboo, and specialized structures are sorely lacking.” Chibanguka added that, “This hinders individual reconstruction and compromises the long-term development of communities.”
This, she said, is because untreated individuals constitute additional economic burdens for their families and the Congolese state, since they are unable to pay taxes because they don’t work. The crime rate is also becoming increasingly high, she noted.
Chibanguka said that there is a significant insufficiency not only in the resources allocated to mental health facilities, but also a lack of qualified personnel. This lack of resources, she said, leads to a shortage of well-equipped hospitals specializing in mental health in urban areas, which are unfortunately totally non-existent in rural areas, but nevertheless largely affected by conflicts. Chibanguka believes that untreated individuals keep their wounds invisible, and these active wounds within them constitute a ticking time bomb in society.
In this context, a few structures like the Saint Vincent de Paul center are trying to fill the gap with limited resources. The absence of clear public policies on mental health, combined with poverty and persistent insecurity, leaves many victims without support. Jean-Pierre Akilimali Muzinge, professor and researcher of psychology at the University of Goma, emphasized the extent of the problem. “Armed conflicts in eastern DRC have created a climate of chronic fear. Mental health is the great forgotten aspect of this crisis, yet it is essential for any sustainable reconstruction,” he said.
For mental health professionals, the reconstruction of the region cannot be limited to only criminal justice. They advocate for a genuine policy of psychological reparations. “Sustainable peace cannot exist without healing from trauma,” insists Chibanguka. “It is necessary to organize regular psychosocial support sessions, especially for war victims. This is an essential condition for truly sustainable development.”
Keywords: DRC, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo, Goma, war, peace, conflict, conflict resolution, mental health
Anicet Kimonyo
Anicet Kimonyo is a Congolese journalist and war reporter based in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the city of Goma in the Province of North Kivu. Since the resurgence of conflicts in the region, he has been involved in media coverage of conflicts in the region and their consequences to the community. His work focuses on issues of democracy, peace and good governance in the region, environmental and climate issues and topics about mining.
