Trigger warning: this article mentions suicidality.
Lebanon is a country in the center of a demoralizing crisis. What started as a movement against decades of fraud and immoral governance in October 2019 has turned into a struggle for fundamental needs. Known for their buoyancy throughout a colossal amount of political and economic strife, the Lebanese are cheerful in their fight for an enhanced country. However, beneath this façade of optimism lies a frightful undertone of desolation towards how they are badly affected by all that is happening.
What is happening in Lebanon?
Lebanon is a country tainted by the suffering it had to endure for 15 years, until 1990, in a civil war and ongoing political, social, and economic vulnerability. In October of 2019, the Lebanese people started a revolution or thawra in the country due to the elevated rates of unemployment, the insufficient access to water and electricity, the deficiency and lack of essential services such as trash removal, government corruption, and the detrimental financial crisis. Various aspects and issues significantly influenced Lebanon’s financial crisis and amplifying unemployment rate, but the result stays the same: countless families grapple with gaining access to basic amenities needed for survival such as sustenance, accommodation, and education. Lebanon is on the brink of reaching the starvation it reached back in 1915, which cost Lebanon half of its population. Almost 60 percent of Lebanese people could be living in poverty by the end of 2020. Also, the Lebanese pound has lost over 86 percent of its value making its inflation rate the third highest in the world. With that being said, the unaffordability of food and necessities poses a bigger threat to Lebanese people’s survival than the coronavirus.
Mental Health in Lebanon
With all the deteriorating issues that Lebanese people have to withstand, an estimated 17 percent of them suffer from mental health problems, yet almost 90 percent do not have access to treatment and therapy. Lebanese people are struggling immensely just to provide for their families. Grocery stores are deserted and empty, failing to provide citizens with what they need. This prominently distresses dual ends. People are left wanting to buy scrap to find necessities and, if they do, it becomes a struggle to pay for them while store owners have had to fire employees and increase prices in order to secure a living for themselves. Compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, Lebanon’s financial crisis of nine months has taken a hefty toll on the mental health of Lebanese people. We have seen such an unfortunate example take place when a 61-year-old man committed suicide on July 3rd, leaving a Lebanese flag beside his body that said: “أنا مش كافر بس الجوع كافر ” – which roughly translates to “I am not a heretic, but hunger is heresy.” While all of these issues have led to a surge in struggles with mental health, they have also prevented access to healthcare.
The Stigma Surrounding Mental Health in Lebanon
Not only is mental health not talked about enough in Lebanon, but there is also a stigma surrounding it, which treacherously disheartens sufferers from seeking help, especially during these times. With that being said, the fight for mental health in Lebanon has been a struggle for a countless number of years. Like in many other countries in the MENA region, Lebanese individuals refrain from admitting their struggles with mental health and are reluctant to get proper care in fear of being stigmatized. Nour Chahine, a 19-year-old Lebanese who suffers from anxiety and depression said that, “when I first told my parents about my mental illness, they did not take me seriously because, to them, mental illness is only for crazy people.” Many of those who finally gain the courage to admit their mental illness are often shut down due to the culture they grew up in, which taught us that mental illnesses do not exist, and that it is just the person being ungrateful.
With no reliable government to depend on to offer support, it is crucial to start openly confronting these issues and terminate such taboos as many Lebanese people struggle with the idea of an unknown tomorrow. Understanding mental health and raising awareness towards the topic can be a critical coping mechanism in the face of such misfortune and difficulty.