Syrian children suffering ‘toxic stress’: Report

A child looks out from an abandoned petrol station where he and his family now live in this file photo. (AP)

BEIRUT: Syrian children show symptoms of “toxic stress” and are attempting self-harm and suicide in response to prolonged exposure to war, according to a report released on Tuesday.
Children do not feel safe at school and are developing speech disorders and incontinence, and some are even losing the capacity to speak, it said. The report from Save the Children comes as the sixth anniversary of the Syrian war approaches and it calls on all sides to prioritize mental health issues before children develop lasting complications they will carry into adulthood.
“After six years of war, we are at a tipping point, after which the impact on children’s formative years and childhood development may be so great that the damage could be permanent and irreversible,” said Marcia Brophy, a mental health adviser for Save the Children in the Middle East. “The risk of a broken generation, lost to trauma and extreme stress, has never been greater.”
Researchers spoke with 450 children, adolescents and adults in seven of Syria’s 14 governorates.
Adults said the main cause of psychological stress is the constant shelling and bombardment that characterize the war.
Schools and hospitals have been regularly targeted, destroying the very institutions that can support traumatized children when they need it most.
According to the report, 80 percent of those interviewed said children have become more aggressive and 71 percent said children increasingly suffer from frequent bedwetting and involuntary urination — “both common symptoms of toxic stress and post-traumatic stress disorder among children.”
The researchers also found that two-thirds of the children had lost a loved one, had their houses bombed or shelled, or suffered war-related injuries.
Save the Children said the survey was the first focusing on the mental health of children still living in Syria.
It said that at least 3 million children are estimated to be living in areas with exposure to high explosive weapons and that at least 3 million youngsters under age 6 know nothing but war.