Israel-Hezbollah war: In Lebanon, the mental health toll exceeds the…

The present conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is putting even more pressure on the mental well-being of people in Lebanon, who have already faced five years of hardship from different disasters and challenges. This ongoing situation is adding to the emotional toll on residents.

On October Eight, 2023, Israel and Hezbollah started exchanging heavy fire across the border, just in the future after Hamas launched its attack on southern Israel.

The growing conflict and fears of a full-scale war have forced people inside of the south to flee their homes.

Over the last three weeks, increasing Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon have simplest added to the uncertainty, leaving the whole population anxious and wired, in step with AL-MONITOR’s publication on October 12.

The ongoing war and Israeli invasion have had a serious impact on the mental health of Lebanese people, both inside of the usa and folks living in a foreign country.

People in Lebanon are living in constant fear, with many tormented by significant losses. This has led to a upward push in anxiety, depression, and trauma most of the population.

At the same time, Lebanese expats (living in a foreign country) are facing their very own emotional challenges, feeling helpless and constantly caring in regards to the safety of their family and friends back home.

“The concern of being far from our families throughout such hard times increases our anxiety,” said Ferial Saab, a Lebanese living in Australia, throughout a phone interview with Al-Monitor.Uncomplicated on everyday basis tasks, like going to work, have used to be hard because we’re always focused on what’s taking place back in Lebanon. It’s tough to relax and even breathe once in your time because, despite the whole lot, Lebanon is still our home.

The choice of Lebanese living in a foreign country is believed to be now not below double the scale of the population still living in Lebanon.The numbers differ, nevertheless the federal government estimates that over 14 million Lebanese citizens and folks of Lebanese heritage are living outside the usa.

Years of Conflict Leave Lasting Impact

A couple of generations of Lebanese have lived in the course of the trauma because of ongoing conflicts.

The 15-year civil war (1975-1990) had a deep impact on the mental health and well-being of those that experienced it.A lot of persons lost their normal childhoods, homes, and loved ones. Education and career growth came to a halt.

With every other war taking place, many Lebanese adults agonize that their youngsters and grandchildren will pass in the course of the same terrible experiences as past generations. They fear Lebanon may face similar destruction as Gaza, which has been under Israeli attack for over a year.

Some individuals are experiencing flashbacks and reminders of the July 2006 war in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.

Abou Ahmad, a Sixty seven-year-old taxi driver who used to be forced to leave his home in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, is now taking refuge in a college located in Bater, inside of the Chouf region.“This seems like a repeat of 2006,” he shared with Al-Monitor. “Back then, I came here with my wife and children, and now I’m here with my grandchildren. We’re bored with war, being displaced, and losing our homes. We just can’t come up with the money for to rebuild anymore.”

He mentioned, “I constantly feel like there’s a heavy burden on my chest, and I can’t go to sleep until early morning because I can’t stop focused on the whole lot.”

Mia Atoui, co-founder and president of Embrace Lebanon, the usa’s mental health toughen and suicide hotline, spoke in regards to the current mental health situation in Lebanon.

She explained throughout a phone interview with Al-Monitor that most folk are managing generalized anxiety or depression, while many others are showing signs of severe trauma, so that you could quickly grow to be PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

Atoui shared that displaced communities are facing these issues, but even those that haven’t lost their homes and are living in safer areas are also struggling. She noted that their mental health is equally impacted, with many experiencing anxiety and depression.

The idea that the Gaza war spilling into Lebanon will have been prevented has left many Lebanese feeling deeply disappointed, angry, and frustrated.

Since October Eight, 2023, the suffering from between Israel and Hezbollah has led to over 2,100 deaths, in step with Lebanon’s Health Ministry. It has also led to widespread displacement and the destruction of entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs (Dahiyeh), and the Baalbek region inside of the east.

Within the intervening time, individuals are mainly concerned with survival and getting basic necessities, which they feel has to be provided by the Lebanese government and organizations linked to Hezbollah.

In these conditions, specializing in mental health is hard, as constant fear and on everyday basis challenges take over people’s minds, leaving little space for the remainder.

Myriam Zarzour, a psychiatrist and co-director of Embrace Lebanon, told Al-Monitor that the war has taken away two key elements for mental health: safety and basic needs. She added that presently, no person in Lebanon feels completely safe.

At some point of a phone interview, she mentioned that over 1.2 million displaced people no longer have access to crucial needs like food, shelter, and physical safety.Whilst you’re worried about whether you and your family will continue to exist the night, mental health becomes a lower priority. People are only drawn to getting through on everyday basis.

Even earlier than the current crisis, government funding for mental health services used to be now now not enough to meet the growing demand. This has created major challenges for the mental health system, including an absence of economic toughen from the Ministry of Public Health, now now not enough trained professionals, and the stigma around mental health, specifically among older generations.Most mental health resources are focused in cities, making it even tougher for folk in rural areas to access these services.

Subsequently, nongovernmental organizations are under pressure to step in. However, Atoui explained that Embrace Lebanon, like many other NGOs, doesn’t have enough funding or personnel to do something in regards to the growing demand, which has increased four times inside of the past three weeks.

Even earlier than the up-to-the-minute crisis, Embrace Lebanon struggled with an absence of mental health professionals resulting from limited funding. In step with Atoui, there used to be already a long waiting list for therapy and psychiatric services.

Atoui explained that they are currently raising funds to meet the growing demand, but challenges persist. Many mental health professionals have recently left the usa, making the gap between supply and demand even worse.

Paramedics Facing Mental Stress

Lebanese first responders and front-line workers are under severe mental stress as they face the hard task of caring for the injured and getting better the dead after Israeli attacks.They put their lives on the road on everyday basis to save a lot of others, constantly facing stress and trauma from witnessing death and destruction. This ongoing exposure is causing serious mental health issues for them.

Jad Assaf, a paramedic with the Lebanese Red Cross, shared in a phone interview with Al-Monitor from the Jezzine Red Cross Center that constantly witnessing violence and loss is affecting his mental health. He explained that knowing someone trapped under the rubble might be someone’s member of the family—a husband, wife, parent, or child—makes the location even harder to do something about.

For Assaf, the mental strain he experiences is solely as tough because the physical risks of his job.

“We’re trained to remain strong, but after I’m sent to a bombing online page online in a neighborhood, my heart races, and I think the pain for individuals who won’t make it,” he said.

Experts talking to Al-Monitor highlighted several serious mental health issues because of the current war. These include intense fear of the war and its that it's possible you could actually well have in mind outcomes, the stress of being displaced and the uncertainty of losing one’s home, as well as as caring for kids who're traumatized by the violence and destruction around them.