The head of the mental health unit in the Palestinian Ministry of Health and consultant psychiatrist, Dr. Samah Jabr, said, “The current events will leave all survivors of the Israeli aggression in Gaza in dire need of psychological assistance or psychological support, while it is not possible to talk about psychological support in light of the need for Safe shelter, medicine, food and drink.”
Jabr confirmed, in an exclusive interview with “Arabi 21,” that “the psychological suffering of the people of Gaza is enormous and unprecedented, because the scale of the aggression is enormous, and its details are unprecedented. For example: famine did not exist in the past, while today we are talking about conditions that affect… Palestinian bodies.
Jabr pointed out that “about 6% of the population of Gaza are martyred, wounded, or missing, and the remaining percentage (94%) is affected by other forms. Among them are those who lost their homes, were displaced from one place to another, are living in unprecedented fear and terror, or are suffering from post-traumatic stress symptoms.” Trauma, in addition to a huge number of amputees who have become disabled.”
She explained, “Children in Gaza are more vulnerable to mental health problems because their minds are young and they have not developed sufficient psychological defense mechanisms. In addition, they do not understand all the details of the problems going on around them, and they are more in need of psychological support than others, because they lean on others.” On injured and grieving caregivers,” noting that “Gaza has tragically turned into a cemetery for children.”
The following is the text of the special interview with “Arabi 21”:
What are the dimensions of the psychological suffering of the people of Gaza as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression so far?
The psychological suffering is enormous and unprecedented; Because the scale of the aggression is enormous, and its details are unprecedented. For example: famine did not exist in the past, while today we are talking about conditions affecting the bodies of Palestinians, and approximately 6% of the population of Gaza are martyred, wounded or missing, and the remaining percentage (94%) is affected by other forms; Some of them have lost their homes, been displaced from one place to another, are living in unprecedented fear and terror, or are suffering from post-traumatic stress symptoms.
In addition to a huge number of amputees who have become disabled, and need others to help them, at a time when a person needs to survive by himself, so what about someone who is injured or amputated, or a sick person who needs to stay in bed all the time? All of these things make the psychological burden enormous and unprecedented. .
Are there numbers or statistics for the number of people suffering from psychological illnesses as a result of aggression?
UNICEF statistics say that every child in Gaza needs mental health interventions, and we have previous information that half a million children in Gaza need psychological interventions, and according to a study issued by the World Bank, 70% of the population of Gaza suffer from disorders that require psychological interventions.
Today, we do not have accurate official numbers, but we expect that the current events will leave all survivors in dire need of psychological help or psychological support, but it is not possible to talk about psychological support in light of the need for safe shelter, medicine, food and drink.
People today need human dignity; There is a crisis in the presence of bathrooms. A person cannot wash, for example, and the matter becomes more difficult with women in tents, who cannot meet their most basic needs. In the absence of these things, residents are not in touch with their feelings and emotions, and mental health problems do not appear clearly at the present time, but they are It will resurface later.
How do children and women in Gaza specifically suffer from the psychological effects of war?
Children in Gaza are more vulnerable to mental health problems; Because their minds are weak, and they have not developed sufficient psychological defense mechanisms, in addition to that, they do not understand all the details of the problems going on around them, and they are more in need of psychological support than others, because they rely on injured and grieving caregivers.
In fact, the plight of the children of Gaza is worsening very badly day after day. Before the brutal aggression, they were in dire need of psychological and social support, while today their situation has reached a critical crossroads, and Gaza has tragically turned into a cemetery for children, especially in light of the escalation of their psychological pain. And social, after many of them became without any care from their families or were separated from their families.
Many children are subjected to amputation of their limbs every day, leaving them with permanent disabilities. Some of them undergo surgical operations without anesthesia, and this happens while the specter of famine looms strongly, causing serious health consequences that exceed what was previously caused by nutritional deficiency, anemia, and more. From worsening the tragic condition, whether psychological or physical.
The tragedy of women in Gaza is unseen. I am in contact with some female colleagues in Gaza, and they describe how they hide their feelings and psychological reactions from their children, and that they need to hide when they want to cry so that their children do not see them and be affected by their reactions.
I also heard about the enormous suffering of some pregnant women who had to give birth in the absence of necessary medical care during the war, about the malnutrition that affected their weaker bodies, about the neglect of their women’s needs, and about their queuing for hours in front of the toilets or bathrooms used by men and women.
The experience of displacement in the open and living in tents is one of the most painful experiences for the women of Gaza, especially for women who are accustomed to maintaining privacy.
Will the psychological effects of the Israeli aggression stop immediately after the war ends?
The psychological effects will surface after the war; Today, people are searching for physical survival, and mental health is a secondary matter for them, but after the war, and after their basic needs are met, they will be more in touch with their feelings, and they will realize the extent of the loss and loss, and there will be effects that will last with them for the rest of their lives.
This trauma may be “transgenerational”; The trauma may be transmitted to subsequent generations through genes, through narration: through the people who lived through the events and transmitted the image, and through the style of upbringing and their emotional connection with their children. Traumatized parents are overprotective, or emotionally apathetic and detached, and medical science today has proven that traumatic events change people’s genetic expressions.
The massive shocks that the children and women of Gaza are exposed to in particular threaten to erode their trust in the world, destroy their morale, and hamper their ability to communicate with themselves and with others, which reinforces their feeling of insecurity that may haunt them for life, even if conditions change and they later live in an atmosphere of security. Security and peace.
What are the most prominent diseases resulting from war trauma, and what groups are most vulnerable to war trauma?
There are many traumatic disorders called “post-traumatic stress disorder,” but we have reservations about this name. Because in Palestine there is no “after”, but there is a lot of traumatic upheaval, a lot of grief and painful and complex loss; Because the way they lost their loved ones under the rubble, without funerals, without graves to visit in the future, and without funeral homes… all of this is shocking, and prevents people from adapting or accepting the loss in the normal way.
Wars also greatly multiply anxiety disorders, depression, and even mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar, but trauma disorders and common psychological disorders such as anxiety, panic, and depression multiply even more.
As for the most vulnerable groups, they are women, children, and also men who have been targeted by aggression, or have been subjected to torture, arrest, and abuse, in addition to those in the first ranks of journalists, photographers, doctors, and others who are exposed to what is called “secondary shock” as a result of seeing a huge number of injured people. , amputees, and body parts, or through their observation of others, or their grief for the missing, and these scenes may haunt them for a long time after the end of the war.
Can we talk about the nature of PTSD among the people of Gaza, whose traumas do not go away all the time?
Regarding the nature of the shock, I would like to point out that the shock among the people of Gaza is a “collective shock.” We cannot sit every resident of Gaza in a chair and provide him with treatment. Collective and historical traumas are healed through reviving national sentiments, establishing sessions for listening and dialogue, caring for specific professional groups, through social reconciliation, building society anew, and giving preferential distinction to the most harmed, and of course all of this after meeting the basic needs of shelter and food.
The residents of Gaza have completely lost their lives and their future, and they must be provided with financial compensation that will make them more reassured about the future. Then come the more specialized interventions.
Has treating those affected psychologically now become a kind of luxury in light of the continued Israeli aggression?
I am not saying that psychological treatment is a kind of luxury, but I do not think that providing psychological treatment in light of continued aggression is useful without meeting basic needs, and without the person being safe for his body.
What is the current situation of hospitals and the health sector in Gaza and the West Bank?
The most common way this aggression was described was “the war on hospitals and the health sector.” More than two-thirds of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip were completely disrupted, and the rest of them were partially functioning. More than 340 health personnel were martyred, and more than 100 health personnel and doctors were arrested and subjected to horrific abuse.
The stories we heard about what happened to doctors are very painful, such as what happened to the director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, and the official in Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Muhammad Al-Ran, and many others.
The occupation deliberately targeted and struck the lifeline of Gazan society. If the shooting stops tomorrow, death will continue in Gaza. Because chronic disease patients do not receive their treatment and medications, and because of the spread of serious diseases such as hepatitis C and skin diseases, and because of the neglect of cancer patients and dialysis. The occupation has created conditions in which death is sustained, and unfortunately death will continue for a long time after this aggression in Gaza.
The priority after the aggression stops is to support and invest in the health system as quickly as possible. Of course, there is a major problem in the West Bank affecting the health system, but it is less severe than in Gaza, and there is a stark example of the occupation’s aggression in the West Bank. They stormed Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin, killing and assassinating wounded and resistance fighters on hospital beds.
Why are the relevant international organizations unable to provide psychological and medical support to the people of Gaza?
Let me ask a question about your question: Why are countries unable, and why is the world unable to help the people of Gaza? The answer: for the same reason that international organizations are incapable; The needs are enormous, and the context prevents the provision of aid, in addition to the fact that the balance of power unfortunately forces regimes, governments, and international organizations to confront it.
There are many colleagues who are interested in providing service to the people of Gaza, whether they are Arabs or foreigners, or from the West Bank, or residents of occupied Palestine in 1948, but I believe that we need a period of calm, meeting basic needs, and providing physical safety, and then for psychological treatment to begin. Providing aid to the Palestinians.
2024-02-22 22:02:00
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