'Traumatized' Iraqis a growing concern

[maddezmom]

'Traumatized' Iraqis a growing concern
Sunday, March 18, 2007James PalmerNewhouse News Service
Baghdad- Iraqi psychiatrists are seeing what they call a disturbing spike in mental health disorders as terrorism, an armed insurrection and a bloody sectarian divide grip their country. The escalating psychiatric caseloads are compounded by Iraq's lack of mental health workers, facilities and services.

Several mental health-care professionals suggest the number of untreated or undertreated people nationwide reaches into the millions, and the consequences could permanently damage generations.

"Iraqis are being traumatized every day," said Said Al-Hashimi, 54, a psychiatrist who runs a private clinic and teaches at Mustansiriya Medical School in Baghdad. "No one knows what will result from living through this continuous trauma on a daily basis."

~snip~

Though no reliable research exists on the state of Iraqis' mental health, the preliminary results of a survey of 10,000 primary school students in north Baghdad, conducted by the Iraqi Society of Psychiatrists and the World Health Organization, reveals startling and widespread problems.

The study, which has yet to be published, found at least 70 percent of students were suffering from trauma-related symptoms, according to Mohammed Al- Aboudi, Iraq's national mental health adviser. Aboudi said those numbers appeared so high that the survey was redone - only to find similar results.

more: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/117421756232280.xml&coll=2

[maddezmom]

1. Poll: Most Iraqis live in fear of violence 4 years after invasion

Poll: Most Iraqis live in fear of violence 4 years after invasion
Updated 10m ago | Comments 2 | Recommend 1 E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions |


By Susan Page, USA TODAY
Four years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, nearly 9 of 10 Iraqis say they live in fear that the violence ravaging their country will strike themselves and the people with whom they live.
Just 5% say they worry "hardly at all" about the safety of those in their household.

The findings are part of a survey of Iraqi public opinion sponsored jointly by USA TODAY, ABC News, the British Broadcasting Corp. and ARD, a German TV network. The full results from face-to-face interviews with 2,212. Iraqis from Feb. 25 to March 5. will be released Monday.

While some parts of the country have seen more violence than others, almost no one feels exempt from the war's toll.

"There is no life at all," Solaf Mohamed Ali, 38, a Shiite woman who works in a bank. USA TODAY interviewed Ali and other Baghdad residents to supplement the poll findings. "We are eating, drinking and sleeping like animals, but animals are lucky because they are not scared all the time like we are. They don't think that they might be killed at any moment, so I think even the animals are much happier than us."


more:http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-18-iraq-poll_N.htm?csp=34

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Our 9-11 collective trauma is a pittance to what these Iraqis are experiencing.

9-11 was one day. This is 24/7 with the real fear of injury and/or death at any given time.