D. Samah Jabr to CNN: The traumas of wars in the Arab region differ from those in the West, and justice is part of the recovery

Amman, Jordan (CNN) - The experience of trauma resulting from war and political violence in the Arab region, especially in the Palestinian territories, differs from the traditional perceptions developed by trauma science in Western contexts.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr. Samah Jabr spoke in an interview with CNN Arabic about the impact of war traumas on children, and the recovery journey in light of the continuation of the war, during the “War Traumas” conference in Amman, which was organized by the Shorouk Al Amal EARLY LIGHT FOUNDATION in cooperation with the King Hussein Cancer Foundation over the course of the 19th and 20th of September, under the patronage of Princess Ghida Talal.

Jabr previously served as head of the mental health unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and is currently an associate clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at George Washington University.

Jabr said that many Western studies on trauma start from the experience of the combat soldier who returns, after the end of the fighting, to a safe place, while civilians live under bombing and political violence in conditions that do not necessarily allow them to reach safety or move to the post-war stage, especially in the Middle East and the Palestinian territories.

Jabr explained the differences in the psychological interventions required for children in the region and the Palestinian territories, by imposing approaches, asking: “How can we achieve psychological treatment for trauma without a safe place, a post-war stage, and a promising future?”

Jabr pointed out that the size of those affected by political violence makes collective action, in addition to individual interventions, more realistic, especially with children and adults. She said: “We cannot put all those affected by political violence in an individual treatment chair.”

Jabr attaches special importance to children, considering that they are affected by trauma to a greater extent than adults, because their mental and psychological development is not yet complete, in addition to that they do not possess the same psychological defense mechanisms that adults have developed, and their ability to understand the causes of what is happening around them is still limited.

Jabr refuses to look at children's mental health in isolation from their surrounding environment, explaining that targeting the family and society may lead to confusion in roles within the family, such that the child himself turns into a caregiver.

Jabr considered that trauma in the Palestinian experience is not only transmitted from one generation to another, but rather traumas may coincide between different generations at the same time, pointing out that justice represents part of the recovery process within the stages of psychological treatment, but the delay of justice or the possibility of it not being achieved should not delay the provision of support to survivors.