Edited by Nfir at 5-10-2024 07:00 PM
Rasanya mereka yang mengamuk ini adalah a classic case of PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Selalunya kita tahu tentang PTSD daripada pembacaan saja. Itu pun sekadar PTSD yang melibatkan askar America.
Ini first time kita dapat melihat melalui video – apa itu PTSD? Khususnya, PTSD yang disebabkan oleh peperangan.
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Artikel di bawah ini daripada Al Jazeera. So kita boleh rule out artikel ini sengaja mahu memburukkan rakyat Palestin.
Al Jazeera adalah media Qatar. Dan Qatar memang pro-Hamas.
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Psychiatrist dalam artikel ini kata: Permanently on edge.
Mungkin ini yang berlaku untuk individu yang mengamuk di Wisma Transit. Fizikal mereka berada di Wisma Transit. Tetapi mental mereka masih berada dalam keadaan perang di Gaza.
That’s why tindakan mereka yang agresif tidak selari dengan environment di Wisma Transit yang selamat dan pegawai Malaysia yang accommodating.
Kenapa mental mereka masih berada dalam keadaan Gaza walau mereka sudah berada di Wisma Transit?
Ini yang dikatakan sebagai kesan trauma yang extreme kepada otak manusia.
Bila manusia berada dalam keadaan threatened, otak manusia turut berada dalam keadaan threatened. Dalam keadaan normal, setelah manusia keluar daripada threatening situation … secara perlahan-lahan otak manusia keluar daripada threatening mode juga.
Imagine kita berhadapan dengan harimau. Otak kita berada dalam keadaan threatened. Setelah kita dapat diselamatkan, otak kita akan beransur pulih semula.
Tapi apabila otak perlu handle trauma yang extreme dalam tempoh yang berpanjangan … otak sudah sukar untuk switch off threatening mode tersebut. Dalam keadaan ini, threatening mode menjadi default mode di otak.
Maksudnya, dalam otak mereka … otak itu sentiasa berada dalam keadaan terancam. Walaupun mereka sudah dikeluarkan daripada zon peperangan.
Apabila otak constantly berada dalam keadaan threatening mode, perkara yang tak sepatutnya menjadi ancaman … akan menjadi major trigger untuk mereka.
We should not be surprised jika otak mereka confused - antara askar Malaysia dan IDF. Maksudnya, mereka fikir askar Malaysia sama saja macam IDF. Dah la ... mereka ditempatkan dalam military building kan... Sentiasa berhadapan dengan kakitangan MINDEF dengan uniform askar mereka.
Entah-entah ... uniform askar yang dipakai oleh pegawai MINDEF itu sendiri menjadi trigger - membuatkan mereka teringat tentang IDF.
Susah sebenarnya nak handle orang daripada kawasan peperangan ni.
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All this turmoil translates to actual mental illness. In Gaza, rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which features disrupted sleep, feeling permanently on edge and easily startled, flashbacks and nightmares of the trauma and emotional numbing – are incredibly high. A 2017 study found 37 percent of the adults living on the Strip qualify for the diagnosis.
In my work as a psychiatrist, I have treated refugees with PTSD from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It can be severe, complex and protracted. It would be almost impossible to start the healing while the root causes persist. The head of mental health services in Palestine once said her people do not suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder because their trauma is ongoing. Present-traumatic stress disorder may be a more fitting description of their experience.
As is often the case in these situations, children suffer the most in Palestine. A study conducted in 2020, before the latest conflict, found that 53.5 percent of children in Gaza were suffering from PTSD. Nearly 90 percent had experienced personal trauma. The Norwegian Refugee Council reported the devastating news that 11 of the children killed by the recent Israeli air attacks were participating in its trauma programme. No wonder UN Secretary-GeneralAntónio Guterres described Gaza as “hell on earth” for children.
Of course, Israelis have suffered too. Twelve were killed by Hamas rockets in May, two of them children – a tragic loss of human life. But for the Israelis, the Iron Dome defence system and bomb shelters provide a vital safety net and sense of security that Palestinians live without. Their highly developed healthcare services are far better equipped to deal with both physical injuries and the psychological impact of rocket fire. They are not living through the mental anguish of occupation either. All this is reflected in their lower PTSD rates, ranging from 0.5 to 9 percent of the population.
Back in 2008, I went on a trip to post-conflict Somaliland to teach psychiatry to medical students. The civil war affecting the area ended in 1991 but its effects on the mental health of the population and health infrastructure were still evident some 17 years later. They still continue to this day. It will take time to rebuild the fragmented minds and health services in Gaza, but there is little hope for them until Israel ends its illegal occupation, settlement expansion and blockade on Gaza. |