Disaster and Mental Health: The Palestinian experience

Background: The Middle East conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis is a deadly battle between two victims. The Israelis, survivors of a long history of persecution and discrimination, are still bearing the scars of victimization. They are trapped in their collective memories of brutal suffering, which culminated in the horrors of the Holocaust. In their attempt to escape their history and to create a better future, they were led by the Zionist movement to establish a Jewish home and a Jewish nation. Their choice was the Biblical land of Palestine and their victims were to become the Palestinians. The modern Palestinian tragedy goes back to the late part of the 19th centaury when the Zionist movement was created in the wake of nationalism which spread in Europe. Zionism’s declared goal was to fulfill the dream of establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The British colonial government which was mandated over Palestine responded favorably by issuing the Balfour declaration in 1917

Prevalence and determinants of PTSD among Palestinian children exposed to military violence

Abstract. The prevalence and determinants of PTSD were assessed among 121 Palestinian children (6–16 years; 45% girls and 55% boys) living in the area of bombardment. The mothers (21–55 years) and the children themselves reported their exposure to military violence (being personally the target of violence or witnessing it towards others) and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD: intrusion, avoidance and hypervigilance). The results showed that 54% of the children suffered from severe, 33.5 % from moderate and 11 % from mild and doubtful levels of PTSD. Girls were more vulnerable; 58% of them suffered from severe PTSD, and none scored on the mild or doubtful levels of PTSD. The child’s gender and age, mother’s education and PTSD symptoms were significant, and the exposure to traumatic experiences marginally significant determinants of children’s PTSD

Predictors of psychological distress and positive resources among Palestinian adolescents: Trauma, child, and mothering characteristics

Objective The aim was to examine how traumatic and stressful events, responses to violence, child characteristics, and mothering quality, as measured in middle childhood predict psychological distress and positive resources in adolescence. Method The participants were 65 Palestinian adolescents (17 ± .85 years; 52% girls), who had been studied during the First Intifada (T1), during the Palestinian Authority rule (T2) and before the Second Al Aqsa Intifada (T3) in Gaza. Psychological distress was indicated by PTSD, and depressive symptoms and positive resources by resilient attitudes and satisfaction with quality of life, all measured at T3. The predictors that were measured at T1 were exposure to military violence, active coping with violence and children's intelligence, cognitive capacity, and neuroticism. Mothering quality and stressful life-events were measured at T2, the former reported by both the mother and

PALESTINIAN CHILDREN AND DANGEROUS LIFE: ADJUSTMENT DURING VIOLENT AND LESS VIOLENT TIMES

A psychological trauma can interrupt the normal progress of development, causing more difficult resolution of current life issues and impeding growth. How this transpires is important in the sense that it provides a framework for understanding why a trauma can have its particular effect upon a child’s later life. Human development consists of a gradual unfolding of personality wherein new learning and skills transform the individual from one state to another. Erikson (1968) describes this process as one of increasing differentiation, following a universal epigenic sequence. Individual development is shaped by cultural and familial influences interacting with genetically based aspects of personality. As social expectations change according to age and as hereditary traits manifest themselves, the individual is confronted with different demands. Because of that children need security, guidance and prospects for the future in order to grow up to be healthy, responsible and happy citizens. War and violence dramatically interfere with the preconditions for optimal development. Unfortunately, Israeli and Palestinian children have not known a day of real peace

Community mental health as practiced by the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme

Conclusion The GCMHP is one of the leading mental health organizations in Palestine. We believe in community mental health principles. Sound mental health is the product of the subjective feeling of harmony between man and the environment: man can therefore never have real mental health in an oppressive environment. We believe that mental health workers have an important role to play, along with all sectors of the community, in the struggle for democracy and peace

опыт палестины

Состояние психического здоровья населения в Палестине зависит от совокупности факторов, которые настолько связаны между собой, что очень сложно рассматривать их влияние по отдельности. Следовательно, они остаются неразделимыми, если анализировать их влияние на психику человека, на жизнь индивида или общества в целом. За отдельными психотравмирующими событиями последних десятилетий (изгнание в 1948 году, война 1967 года, оккупация, первая интифада, интифада аль-Акса и т. п.) просматривается сочетание ряда стрессовых факторов, разочарований и унижений, присутствующих в повседневной жизни в Газе, а также воздействие, оказываемое этим постоянным напряжением и фрустрацией на психическое здоровье местного населения. Сильное влияние на палестинское общество оказала чрезвычайная ситуация, связанная с выселением. Из литературы известно, что психотравмирующие события оказывают губительное воздействие на развитие личности. Поэтому очень важно, анализируя влияние отдельных случаев нарушения прав человека на жертв и на палестинское общество в целом, всегда принимать во внимание глобальный контекст, в котором они происходят и к которому добавляют новый элемент страдания. Следовательно, при любом вмешательстве, направленном на улучшение психического здоровья и предупреждение нарушения прав человека в будущем, следует признавать и включать важные неразделимые элементы прошлого и настоящего опыта, равно как и позиции в отношении будущего. Даже

The Palestinian experience

The state of mental health in Palestine is bound up in a combination of factors so interlinked that it is difficult to consider their effects separately. Therefore, they remain indivisible when their impact on the human psyche, on individual lives and on the community as a whole is considered. Behind the specific traumatic upheavals of the past decades (1948 uprooting, 1967 War, Occupation, the first Intifada, Al-Aqsa Intifada, etc.) lies the amalgamation of the stressors, frustrations and humiliations present in everyday life in Gaza and the effect that this constant tension and frustration has had on the mental health of its population. The disaster of uprooting left a strong influence on the Palestinian community and it is known from the literature that traumatic events are harmful for the development of the individual. For this reason it is important, when exploring the impact of specific types of human rights abuses on victims and on Palestinian society, always to take into consideration the global context in which they are occurring and to which they are adding a new element of suffering. It follows, naturally, that any intervention designed to improve mental health, and to prevent further human rights abuses, must acknowledge and incorporate the significance of the intertwined elements of past and present experience, as well as attitudes towards the future. Even the impact of the peace process on Palestinians cannot be comprehended without understanding the initial meaning of the Oslo Agreement itself and what it represented. In turn, this cannot be understood without a clear picture of what the first Intifada (1987-1994) as well as Al-Aqsa Intifada (2000) meant

Prevalence of PTSD among Palestinian children in Gaza Strip

This research study aimed to get acquainted with the prevalence of PTSD, and other psychological suffering among Palestinian children living under severe conditions during the last two and half years of the Al-Aqsa Intifada. The sample consists of 944 children whom age ranged between 10-19 years. The group excluded those with previous mental health problems. In this research, trauma scale, PTSD scale, the Child Posttraumatic Stress Index, the Children’s PTSD-symptoms, The CPTS-RI and open questions had been used as tools. The results indicated that 32.7% of the children started to develop acute PTSD symptoms that need psychological intervention, while 49.2% of them suffered from moderate level of PTSD symptoms. Also the results showed that the most prevalent types of trauma exposure for children are for those who had witnessed funerals (94.6%), witnessed shooting (83.2%), saw injured or dead