We describe the extremely limited psychiatric resources of war-torn countries like Afghanistan. In such countries, we suggest to apply experience from training medical students in industrialized countries to teach a very basic and simplified understanding of psychiatric classifications and core diagnostic symptoms to medical students (who will later serve in various medical disciplines in regional and district hospitals) and to medical staff including nurses and psychosocial counsellors working in health posts and district hospitals. We describe such a brief but clinically relevant list of symptoms and classifications based on experiences with medical student and practitioner training.