When Vashini Jayakumar fled Sri Lanka as an 18-year-old, she left behind a childhood full of violence and fear.

Key points: Save The Children estimates 7 million children are living in "high-intensity conflict zones"

Save The Children estimates 7 million children are living in "high-intensity conflict zones" They risk developing the most serious of mental health problems, such as schizophrenia

They risk developing the most serious of mental health problems, such as schizophrenia Only 0.14pc of international aid money goes towards mental health programs for children

The civil war smoldered around her village.

There was always the chance of being kidnapped and forced to become a child soldier.

"Every day I went to school, it's like … something could happen to me, would I return safely?" she told the ABC.

Her parents put her and her brother into an orphanage in Colombo to shield them from the war, but for two years they were bullied and brutalized in that institution.

The family reunited and came by boat to Australia.

In her new home of Brisbane, Ms Jayakumar started to get her mental health back on track.

"I think I got lucky when I came here," she laughed.

"The government offered mental health support, and you can talk to them and feel relieved."

But millions of children continue to live lives full of trauma, with no access to professional mental health services.

Vashini Jayakumar's parents put her and her brother into an orphanage in Colombo to shield them from the war. ( Supplied )

Save The Children estimates there are 7 million children currently living in "high-intensity conflict zones" — places with battle deaths of more than one thousand people.

They risk developing the most serious of mental health problems, such as schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder.

And yet, only 0.14 per cent of international aid money goes towards mental health programs for children.

"What these children face is unthinkable, even indescribable," said Nadine Haddad, senior humanitarian advisor at Save The Children.

In a report titled "Road to Recovery", the agency is calling for more aid money to go to mental health programs for children in war zones.

Save The Children wants developed nations like Australia to replenish the $2.6 billion fund called "Education Can't Wait", and to introduce more psychological support programs in areas of conflict.

Heartbreak and hope

An airstrike in Yemen killed Fatima's mother, father and her five of her siblings. ( Suppled: Save The Children )

In Yemen, 12-year-old Fatima tells her story in an even voice that belies the horror of her words.

It was midnight and her family was sleeping when a rocket landed near their house, waking them up.

They were heading to the door to check on their goats when a second rocket hit.

"I was unconscious and buried in the sand," Fatima told Save The Children recently.

"My leg was injured very badly to the extent that it had no flesh."

Much later, in hospital, she learned the extent of the tragedy. Her entire family was dead.

"Five sisters, my mother and father, so seven people," she listed calmly.

Now, she lives with an aunty she barely knows and struggles to face the world.

"I am staying here in the house, I rarely go out."

The young age of these victims of war makes their suffering particularly heartbreaking, but their youth also offers hope of a recovery.

"It is incredible to see how resilient children are, even in the worst conflict zones," Ms Haddad said.

"What we've seen is that providing the basic services … contributes a lot to their ability to bounce back from whatever atrocities they have seen."

One of the few Australian-funded programs to include mental health support is in Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh, where more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have formed the world's biggest refugee camp, after fleeing genocidal pogroms in neighbouring Myanmar.

There, children draw some of the awful things they saw in Myanmar.

"They drove us out, they burned our houses," said 10-year-old Mohammed, holding up his drawing of people with guns and a building covered in orange scribbles — flames.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 31 seconds 31 s Animation of Mohammed's drawings

The mental health of children in war zones may seem like a distant concept, but in a globalised world, helping young people overseas may one day help here in Australia.

With a bit of help, even the harshest starts to life can be turned around.

In Brisbane, Vashini Jayakumar is now studying early childhood education — impassioned by her own traumatic experiences.

"Childhood is the most important part of life, that's what you learn," she told the ABC.

"As an adult I want to be with them [children], [as a] supporter and carer and to encourage them," Ms Jayakumar said.