GCMHP Hold Series Of Public Awareness Meeting In Areas of Displacement

Gaza Community Mental Health Program, through its field teams, has implemented 15 awareness meetings in the last two weeks targeting displacement camps in the city of Khan Yunis. The meetings targeted groups of men and women in those camps, with great interaction from those attending.

During these sessions, many important topics were discussed, such as stress management, self-care, psychological trauma, and how to deal with children in times of crisis, as well as topics related to domestic violence and other important related topics.

The attendees have shown very good interaction during these meetings, and they asked for more of them.

During their interactive participation the attendees also raised a group of questions, especially regarding the issue of domestic violence which has increased during the war time. for example of of the male attendees asked “What should I do to stop the violence against my wife and children? I feel that this issue is out of my control”. Another example was a question about how to control stress “at time of fear”.

A woman also asked: “How should I take care of myself despite the pressures I am going through during the war?” there were also many other questions to which the mental health professionals responded.

Importantly, the youth group in particular interacted greatly with topics of domestic violence.

GCMHP has noticed through field work that people are interested in having such meeting more than any time in the past. These meeting have provided the affected people with space to share and discuss their realistic experiences and daily problems and how they deal with them, and thus there this has been seen by the specialists to be an opportunity to correct some misconceptions and spread knowledge related to mental health and human rights, while also encourage better access to mental health services.

Mental health awareness aims to reduce social stigma around mental illness by sharing personal experiences; therefore, it is a necessary and proactive step for mental health and psychological well-being, as misconceptions about mental health often lead people to remain silent about their conditions, which leads them sometimes to develops mental health disorder.

Mental health awareness also contributes to improving understanding of psychological problems and reaching mental health care providers in a timely manner.