Lessons from psychiatry in the Arab world--a Lebanese trainee psychiatrist's qualitative views on the provision of mental healthcare services for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and an interview with a consultant psychiatrist on the effects of the Arab spring on the mental health of Libyans.

Journal: Psychiatria Danubina

Volume: 25 Suppl 2

Issue: 

Year of Publication: 2014

Affiliated Institutions:  National Institute of Health Research Academic Clinical Fellow Psychiatry, Manchester University, Manchester, England, UK, ahmedzakaria@doctors.org.uk.

Abstract summary 

In this manuscript, a Lebanese trainee psychiatrist qualitatively analyses and discusses the provision of mental healthcare services for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. There are more than 250,000 Palestinian people sporadically dispersed in the refugee camps in Sidon, Beirut and other major cities in the Levant. Displacement, conflict, trauma, unemployment and poverty are but some of the myriad factors that influence Palestinian refugee mental health. This article traces the historical, political and socioeconomic determinants of health for Palestinians exiled in Lebanon and describes the pivotal role that the non-Govenmental Organisation Medical Aid for Palestinians is playing in helping to alleviate the psychiatric distress of Palestinian sufferers of mental illness. The latter half of the manuscript contains an interview with a consultant psychiatrist about his experiences volunteering in the war-torn lands of Libya post Arab Spring. He expounds on how he feels mental healthcare services in Libya are woefully inadequate and broaches on his perception of how the resilience and the 'family-centric' model of the Libyan people has conferred a certain degree of protection towards developing severe psychiatric illness.

Authors & Co-authors:  Hankir Ahmed A Sadiq Asad A

Study Outcome 

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Statistics
Citations : 
Authors :  2
Identifiers
Doi : 
SSN : 0353-5053
Study Population
Male,Female
Mesh Terms
Arab World
Other Terms
Study Design
Study Approach
Qualitative
Country of Study
Libya
Publication Country
Croatia