Children traumatized by conflict
- added July 15, 2008
- 0 responses
-
-
-
-
- LindseyIndigo
- added this
-
On the Gaza-Israel frontline violence is traumatising a whole generation, the Guardian reports today, and stress is taking its toll on both sides of the border.
Sleeping problems, fears, and fits of aggression are just some of the many symptoms of severe stress affecting the majority of children in Gaza and Sderot.
They live on the frontline of the world's oldest conflict, which in the past eight years has killed 5,848 people, wounded thousands more and traumatised countless families. Raziel has spent four years in therapy; Nour has been seeing counsellors for six months.
But Israeli and Palestinian researchers suspect the toll is worse than either the number of deaths or psychological symptoms of this protracted conflict suggest.
Limited research on adults and more extensive testing on animals shows that stressful events, especially life-threatening situations, can cause long-term neurological and biological damage. When stressed the brain secretes powerful hormones such as cortisone which, in big or prolonged doses, can change the brain's structure, resulting in an inability to process intense emotions or form new memories. Such hormones can also induce epileptic seizures and attention deficit and hyperactive disorders.
If psychological symptoms are any indication, Gaza and Sderot could be in the throes of an emerging epidemiological disaster.
In Sderot, 28% of adults, three times the national average, and an even higher proportion of children, suffered post traumatic stress disorder. Children aged seven to 12 suffered most, with 74% experiencing extreme fear, 67% refusing to talk or visit places that remind them of an attack, and 57% enduring nightmares and other sleep difficulties.
Ninety per cent of residents had seen or heard a rocket fly overhead, 92% had experienced a rocket falling nearby, 56% had experienced shrapnel hitting their home, and 65% knew someone who had been injured.
In Gaza, nearly 60% suffered post traumatic stress disorder, around 20% suffered anxiety and 51% were depressed.
As a result of Israeli army ground invasions and air raids the average child had experienced 13 traumatic events. Thirty-four per cent had been threatened with a gun, 30% had witnessed a close relative die and 62% had seen someone killed by a missile. Many had seen their homes demolished, suffered injuries or witnessed the kidnapping of a friend or relative.
Even when the children were not first hand witnesses they were highly exposed to violence via the media. Seventy-five per cent saw mutilated bodies on television caused by internal Palestinian fighting and Israeli army invasions.
How will these children be able to even imagine living alongside each other peacefully as they grow up and become the adults in their society, when their very existence is so stressful? Are they being groomed for even more violence? What can anyone do to improve their lives? And if both sides see serious health epidemics as a result of stress, will that be enough motivation to finally resolve the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?
Sleeping problems, fears, and fits of aggression are just some of the many symptoms of severe stress affecting the majority of children in Gaza and Sderot.
They live on the frontline of the world's oldest conflict, which in the past eight years has killed 5,848 people, wounded thousands more and traumatised countless families. Raziel has spent four years in therapy; Nour has been seeing counsellors for six months.
But Israeli and Palestinian researchers suspect the toll is worse than either the number of deaths or psychological symptoms of this protracted conflict suggest.
Limited research on adults and more extensive testing on animals shows that stressful events, especially life-threatening situations, can cause long-term neurological and biological damage. When stressed the brain secretes powerful hormones such as cortisone which, in big or prolonged doses, can change the brain's structure, resulting in an inability to process intense emotions or form new memories. Such hormones can also induce epileptic seizures and attention deficit and hyperactive disorders.
If psychological symptoms are any indication, Gaza and Sderot could be in the throes of an emerging epidemiological disaster.
In Sderot, 28% of adults, three times the national average, and an even higher proportion of children, suffered post traumatic stress disorder. Children aged seven to 12 suffered most, with 74% experiencing extreme fear, 67% refusing to talk or visit places that remind them of an attack, and 57% enduring nightmares and other sleep difficulties.
Ninety per cent of residents had seen or heard a rocket fly overhead, 92% had experienced a rocket falling nearby, 56% had experienced shrapnel hitting their home, and 65% knew someone who had been injured.
In Gaza, nearly 60% suffered post traumatic stress disorder, around 20% suffered anxiety and 51% were depressed.
As a result of Israeli army ground invasions and air raids the average child had experienced 13 traumatic events. Thirty-four per cent had been threatened with a gun, 30% had witnessed a close relative die and 62% had seen someone killed by a missile. Many had seen their homes demolished, suffered injuries or witnessed the kidnapping of a friend or relative.
Even when the children were not first hand witnesses they were highly exposed to violence via the media. Seventy-five per cent saw mutilated bodies on television caused by internal Palestinian fighting and Israeli army invasions.
How will these children be able to even imagine living alongside each other peacefully as they grow up and become the adults in their society, when their very existence is so stressful? Are they being groomed for even more violence? What can anyone do to improve their lives? And if both sides see serious health epidemics as a result of stress, will that be enough motivation to finally resolve the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?
-
-
-
-
- LindseyIndigo
- 1 month ago
Login/Registration is required to add a response.
