Understanding Palestine’s colonial, intergenerational trauma from a mental health perspective
The HinduIn Palestine, trauma does not sit alone with the individual, and it does not lie idle in the past. The late Eyad El-Sarraj, founder of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, said in 2005 that the psychological effects of Israel’s occupation of Gaza, and of violence in Palestine, have created a “learned helplessness”. Dr. Samah Jabr, head of the Mental Health Unit at Palestine’s Ministry of Health talks to The Hindu’sSaumya Kalia about authentically defining and measuring the trauma that Palestinian bodies and minds face. For instance, how would the Western mental health framework slot the psychological impact of Israeli’s airstrikes on Palestinian refugee camps, which have killed hundreds? The Western mental health framework may not fully address collective trauma, particularly in contexts of systemic violence, displacement, or dispossession, experienced by entire communities.
History of this topic
Mental health under occupation: When can Palestinians heal?
Al Jazeera
Opinion: How are people changed by being taken hostage by Hamas? By fleeing Israeli bombs?
LA Times
What is trauma doing to young people in Gaza?
Al Jazeera
How Is Collective Trauma Different From Individual Trauma?
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