AMMAN –
October 7 came to reignite the pain and anger that had
been stored in the hearts of every Palestinian, Jordanian, and Arab. Since that
day, the pain has proliferated, and people everywhere have been experiencing a
variety of emotions while witnessing a genocide live on TV and all social media
platforms. While the international community took it as a surprise, it was just
another reminder of the ongoing 75-plus-year occupation.
اضافة اعلان
Since October
7th, approximately 15,000 Palestinians, including 6,000 children, have been
killed, with an additional 36,000 injured, according to the
Gaza Ministry of Health. Moreover, there are 1.8 million internally displaced persons across the
Gaza Strip, and more than 46,000 homes have been destroyed, with over 234,000
housing units otherwise damaged. These figures account for over 60 percent of
the housing stock, as reported by Al Jazeera and Relief Web.
It
is crucial not to overlook that between October 7 and November 27 of this year,
242 Palestinians, including 57 children, lost their lives, and 2,750 were
injured in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Additionally, 260
Palestinians were arrested since the truce, with a total of 3,260 since October
7, Al Jazeera reported.
Watching this level of
brutality live on TV and social media has a multitude of immediate and
long-term biopsychological effects on people's
mental health, Abdullah Abu
Adass Consultant Psychiatrist reported. The most dominant scenario is clinical
acute stress and post-traumatic stress disorders.
This is not post
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition caused by experiencing or witnessing a
shocking terrifying event, according to the Mayo Clinic. Whereas clinical acute
stress is an intense dysfunctional reaction to a hostile event, with effects
lasting for approximately a month. If effects persist for longer than a month
then the person will be diagnosed with PTSD. However, the keyword in PTSD is
post, many would agree that to be diagnosed with PTSD, the traumatic experience
must pass.
Such disorders affect all
age groups and affect mostly people of psychological fragility, such as people
suffering from pre-psychological disorders such as major depression.
“Witnessing a war may
cause sleep disorders, appetite disturbance, feelings of physical and
psychological insecurity, and frequent nightmares,” Abu Adass said. He added
that it may also cause negative feelings, low mood, and multiple physical symptoms
such as body aches.
Community depression
Witnessing a war also involves experiencing
irritability and social withdrawal, both of which contribute to the
psychological pollution affecting the public, creating an overall image of
community depression.
Moreover, exposure to war
scenes may elevate the risk of self-harm and increase susceptibility to
substance abuse.
Psycho-local consequences
It is important to
mention that psycho-local consequences also affect people’s ability to work and
perform regular functions, which adds even further burdens on economic growth.
The variations of trauma
However, the trauma
experienced by the people of Gaza is drastically different from the one
experienced by Palestinians and Jordanians in Jordan and abroad according to
Durrah Afyouni, Neuroscience and Neuroimaging MSci, Junior Psychotherapist.
She said people in Gaza
are experiencing constant trauma and death, they’re not even able to grieve
because there's not enough time to do so with the heavy bombardment.
“They will experience
trauma for many generations to come,” Afyouni said.
From pride to honor
“The first few days were
full of pride, honor, and hope as I realized this was nothing like before,
however after the scenes started coming from Gaza, and after the War Crimes
committed in front of the world, the most showing feeling was anger and sadness,
plus a huge feeling of incapability,” Ward AlAllan an activist and member of
the Popular Unity Party said.
It is dangerous to
normalize death
“The first dangerous
thing is to live and normalize death. To see, hear, and live death and for it
to become a folded story, for people to turn into numbers, leaves devastating
psychological effects. It makes the size of the suppressed pain much bigger,”
Nidal Mansour journalist and co-founder of the Center for Defending Journalists
said.
Mansour adds that all
Arabs are feeling paralyzed even though Arab countries do have the power to
change the current status quo that people in the West Bank and Gaza are living
in.
It will eventually an end
Abu Adass and Afyouni
advise those impacted when facing such psychologically agonizing situations to
understand that one should focus on the fact that war is an exception, not a
rule, and will eventually end.
Psychological first aid
to people whether living or witnessing war scenes should be considered as a
first-line intervention as other emergency biological intervention. Checking in
with oneself and speaking positive monologues and dialogues with oneself and
others are very important for releasing negative emotions and reconstructing
negative thoughts.
Helping others via
donations, for example, has a massive positive impact on both, those
experiencing the war as well as those spectating it.
Specialized care such as
psychosocial care should also be available to help manage severe cases. Group
support and community-based public support should also be considered as an
outline of intervention. Accordingly, channeling some of the energy through protesting
safely and peacefully, boycotting, and going to events where there exists a
sense of community and togetherness can remind us that we are not alone, and
can comfortably rely on our environment to pull us back to a safe emotional
harbor.
In the end, there is no
one correct way to handle such tragedy, everyone mourns differently and
processes differently.
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