SANAA — Depression, post-traumatic stress
disorder, psychosis:
Yemen’s seven years of brutal civil war have caused an
explosion of mental illness overwhelming the basic health care services.
اضافة اعلان
“We try to provide treatment, but we cannot treat
everyone”, said Adel Melhi, director of a psychiatric hospital in the
rebel-blockaded city of Taez, one of the places hardest hit by the conflict.
Iran-backed
Houthi rebels have fought a Saudi-led
pro-government coalition since 2015 in a grinding war that has killed hundreds of
thousands and pushed the impoverished nation to the brink of famine.
Aid groups have raised alarm with more than 23
million people — more than two-thirds of Yemen’s population — dependent on aid.
While Taez’s public psychiatric hospital has space
for 200 patients, the numbers needing care because of the “tragedies caused by
the war” have surged far higher, Melhi said.
The hospital lacks the necessary staff and drugs to
cope. As government funds cover just a quarter of its budget, it relies on
donations for the rest.
‘Toll of conflict’
Yemen, with around 30
million people, had just 59 psychiatrists in 2020 — or one for every half a
million people — according to health ministry figures.
Add in therapists, caregivers, and nurses, and the
number of professionals dedicated to mental health rises to 300, divided across
seven hospitals.
The authorities have not published any recent data
on mental illness in Yemen, long the Arab peninsula’s poorest country.
One 2017 study estimated that nearly a fifth of all
residents had mental health issues.
The report said the population “faces constant
pressure, loss and serious shocks — whether as a result of food insecurity,
unemployment, cholera, arbitrary detention, torture, indiscriminate attacks,
air strikes or poor basic public services”.
The UN, in a report this year, said the number could
now be even higher because of the additional strain of the
COVID pandemic and
the “continuing toll of the conflict”.
A UN-brokered ceasefire since April brought a sharp
reduction in hostilities and facilitated moves to alleviate the dire
humanitarian situation, according to aid agencies.
But that truce expired on October 2, and failed
attempts to extend it have stoked fears of fresh conflict.
‘It’s heartbreaking’
In Hajja, northwest of
Sanaa, the aid agency
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) runs a specialized mental
health clinic.
“We help people who went through a traumatic situation,
mostly related to violence because of the context of war,” said Aura Ramirez
Barrios, who leads the clinic’s operations.
“We have a lot of people who lost family members,
their homes, and suffer from displacement.”
About three-quarters of the patients present “severe
mental health disorders”, she added, including “psychosis, depression, bipolar
disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder”.
Barrios said she sees the clinic as a place of hope,
where Yemenis feel safe “after all the violence they have and continue to
suffer”.
One challenge is that many Yemenis only seek medical
advice once symptoms have become “unmanageable”, after a suicide attempt or
experiencing hallucinations, for example.
Part of that is due to the stigma of mental illness
in Yemen, she explained.
Coming to the clinic is particularly difficult for
women, who must ask permission from their family or their husbands.
“It is heartbreaking because when you hear their
stories, you realize they needed help a long time ago,” Barrios said.
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