Syrian children are facing ‘catastrophic’ psychological trauma

Picture: Save The Children (Childhood in the Shadow of War)

A generation of聽Syrian children are facing 国产视频渃atastrophic国产视频� psychological damage聽with one in four inside Syria at risk of developing a mental聽health disorder from witnessing traumatic events, a global聽children国产视频檚 charity said today.

The psychological needs of children fleeing four-and-a-half聽years of war remain largely unmet due to lack of funding,聽spiralling numbers of refugees and over-stretched resources in聽host countries, Save the Children said in a report.

国产视频淭he repercussions for the future mental health of an entire聽generation could be catastrophic,国产视频� Ian Rodgers, country director聽for Save the Children in Lebanon, said in a statement.

国产视频淚n addition to the obvious psychological damage caused聽by witnessing traumatic events and extreme violence, there are a聽myriad of secondary, under-funded and often over-looked, daily聽causes of psychological and social damage once a displaced聽child arrives in a new community.国产视频�

Some 10% of children participating in Save the聽Children programmes in the Iraqi Kurdistan region had lost at聽least one parent, while in Lebanon a 国产视频渃onsiderable portion国产视频� have聽been out of school for at least three years, the charity said.

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国产视频淔or children 国产视频� being out of school for months or years,聽dealing with the acute tension and anxiety at home, as well as聽separation from friends and relatives, daily discrimination,聽child labour, early marriage, and living in insecure, poor parts聽of cities or towns, has a serious and profound impact on their聽mental and physical health,国产视频� Rodgers said.

Normal routines, such as being able to go to school and聽seeing their parents carrying out regular household duties, are聽crucial for children, Rodgers said.

Among teenagers acute stress is leading to suicidal thoughts聽and self-harm, with a few suicides documented in some locations,聽said Save the Children. Other widely reported issues include speech disorders,聽problems with hearing or vision, and bed wetting.

聽国产视频淟eaving children untreated has a negative impact later on 国产视频撀爐hey can become aggressive, depressed, and acquire phobias,国产视频澛燫eem Nasri, Save the Children psychologist said.

Syria国产视频檚 war, which erupted in 2011, has killed some 250,000聽people and created more than four million refugees.

Read the Save The Children report.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson聽Reuters, covers humanitarian news, women国产视频檚 rights,聽corruption and climate change.