War Takes Psychological Toll On Gaza's Children
Rates of serious mental-health disorders among children and others in Gaza have risen dramatically as years of fighting have taken their toll, observes Asmaa al-Ghoul.
Lying on a mattress in the hallway of the women’s ward in the Mental Health Institute in Gaza, 17-year-old Aya looks calm and childishly innocent after the nurses had given her a sleeping pill. She had not been as serene in the morning, however. According to psychiatrist Khitam al-Sheikh Ali, who runs the ward, Aya had bitten one of the nurses in an episode during a nervous breakdown.
The teenager’s mother explained that she had brought her daughter to the hospital after her delusions reached an undeniable point and Aya began to believe that her brothers were plotting to kill her. She said Aya had been living with a psychological disorder for a long time, but that it had worsened in the wake of the war against Gaza in 2008.
