Mental Health

A young woman from Syria starts a new life in Turkey after being shot by a sniper.

MSF psychologist Audrey Magis discusses how war has affected people in Syria and what MSF is doing to help.

The Iraqi Ministry of Health and its supporters should improve access to mental health care services for a population still reeling from decades of conflict, political instability, and social upheaval.

The Iraqi Ministry of Health and its supporters should improve access to mental health care services for a population still reeling from decades of conflict, political instability, and social upheaval.

In South Sudan's refugee camps, MSF's is augmenting its medical activities with psychosocial care.

MSF Mental Health Officer Athena Viscusi tells the moving story of a patient's recovery in Jamam refugee camp.

Psychologists are an integral part of MSF teams. On the heels of World Mental Health Day, this article examines the vital role they play in helping people overcome trauma.

MSF is providing care, including mental health care, to patients in Pakistan's Lower Dir province, where the security situation remains volatile.

An interview with a clinical psychologist who has spent the past nine months working among Palestinians in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron.

After 18 months of activity, the MSF mental health program in Kilinochchi district closed in April 2012.

Three months after two earthquakes hit Van province, MSF is helping survivors cope through a mental health program.

In the aftermath strong earthquakes in eastern Turkey MSF is extending its activities in the region and will begin providing mental health services.

MSF continues to provide medical care and mental health assistance to migrants, internally displaced persons, and prisoners in the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Misrata.

After 10 days of trying, MSF finally managed to deliver medicines and medical supplies to the town of Sirte on October 3.

Over the past 48 hours, MSF has been continuing to assess medical facilities in Tripoli and has begun to provide medical support, while continuing to provide lifesaving support elsewhere in the country.

MSF is preparing to expand its medical response in western Libya to meet urgent humanitarian needs.

An overview of the services MSF teams are currently providing in Misrata, Benghazi, Zintan and Yefren.

MSF has helped established a network of 30 local psychologists in Misrata, the scene of fierce fighting for more than four months.

MSF is providing urgently-needed psychosocial counseling in North Kivu province, torture, forced labor, harassment, rape, armed attacks, killings and lootings are weekly, if not daily, realities.

Inhumane living and hygiene conditions in detention facilities in the Evros region in Greece are causing major health problems for migrants and asylum seekers living there, MSF said.

MSF will assist the construction of two temporary clinics in the tsunami-afflicted Miyagi and Iwate prefectures. 

Hannah Megacz, a New York City-based nurse, has worked with MSF in Cameroon, Niger, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and, for much of 2010, in Dadaab, Kenya, in the Dagahaley Refugee Camp, the largest of three refugee camps set up in the 1990s for refugees fleeing war in Somalia. Originally established to accommodate 90,000 individuals, the camps are currently struggling to support 300,000 refugees. More than 100,000 now live in Dagahaley alone, in fact. The needs are significant and the resources far too few, especially as it pertains to food, water, sanitation, and shelter. MSF has spoken out about the need to provide more care for these refugees, something that seems ever more urgent as the numbers look likely to continue increasing.

Two months after the massive earthquake and tsunami hit northeast Japan, MSF psychologists are continuing to work with survivors.

A team of six MSF psychologists have started working with the survivors of the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit northeast Japan on March 11.

Over the past two years, MSF has provided more than 8,000 mental health consultations to Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon's Burj el-Barajneh camp.

Sérgio Cabral, who coordinated MSF’s activities in response to widespread flooding in the region north of Rio de Janeiro, talks about the work that was done.

On World Mental Health Day, MSF organized a theatrical performance in the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj el-Barajneh and an art exhibition in its Community Mental Health Center outside the camp.

Snapshots from MSF mental health programs in Kashmir, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Iraq show some of the complex issues confronted by those who seek counseling.  

Despite the continuing tense situation, MSF counselors have restarted visiting patients in the hospitals in the capital, Srinagar, and are offering on-the-spot psychological assistance to victims of violence and their families.

Among the large scope of MSF activities in Haiti, as of May 31, more than $14.6 million has been spent on surgical care for Haitians injured in the earthquake. At least $5.3 million was spent on maternal health services.

Violence and curfews have forced MSF to suspend its mental health care programs in the Kashmir Valley.

For people suffering from psychological trauma as a result of violence, detention, poor living conditions, failed attempts to leave Malta and general uncertainty about the future, being able to access mental health support is crucial.

New York, July 27, 2010—Victims of the on-going conflict in Colombia not only suffer from the direct consequences of violence caused by the conflict but also from social and institutional stigma and neglect, according to a report released today by the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

A special MSF report documents armed conflict and mental health in the department of Caquetá,
Colombia.

On June 10, violent clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks erupted in southern Kyrgyzstan, lasting five days, leading to major population displacement both in and outside the country. Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) began its emergency response on June 15.

"Most of the patients present with physical complaints and symptoms such as loss of appetite, memory problems, sleep problems, cardiac palpitations, flashbacks of the event," says MSF psychologist Djénane Marlhen Jean Charles.

"There’s still a lot of insecurity. Attacks, killings, armed offensives and kidnappings still run rife. The population lives in a constant state of tension, always ready to flee en masse at the slightest rumor of an attack by the rebels from the LRA."

A year after the war in the Gaza Strip, civilians continue to be deeply affected. Elina Pelekanou, an MSF psychologist in Gaza, speaks about what she has seen.

After two years, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is concluding its emergency intervention in one of Rio de Janeiro’s slums. MSF teams have treated thousands for the effects of the violence and hardship that persist in the capital’s favelas.

After the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was alerted to the gap in the provision of mental health care in Lebanon. After conducting an assessment, MSF launched a mental health project on the outskirts of Beirut in December 2008 to provide care to communities that generally consider mental health a private matter with a heavy social stigma.

Daisy Plana, a Philippine psychologist working for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has been providing mental health support to victims of the violent earthquake that hit Sumatra, Indonesia, on September 30, 2009, in the rural areas around the coastal city of Pariaman.

Three days after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck off the western coast of Sumatra Island, Indonesia, last week, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) emergency teams arrived in the area and began to assess the medical and non-medical needs of the population.

More than a week after several natural disasters in the East Asia and South Pacific regions, MSF mental health staff are beginning to train local counselors, as well as give direct psychological support.

Dr. Douglas Khaya, a psychologist in MSF's mental health program in Rio de Janeiro, with 2,000 consultations so far, describes life in one of Brazil's most violent favelas.

Theresa Saday, 40, is confronting the problem of sexual violence in Liberia, where she works with MSF to counsel sexual violence victims and their parents.

“We meet parents on a daily basis who are unhappy that their children, who have been raped or abused, will go to the police. These parents are anxious, they are afraid for their children’s safety. So they turn to us with their concerns and for support.”

Theresa Saday, 40, is confronting the problem of sexual violence in Liberia, where she works with MSF to counsel sexual violence victims and their parents.

“We meet parents on a daily basis who are unhappy that their children, who have been raped or abused, will go to the police. These parents are anxious, they are afraid for their children’s safety. So they turn to us with their concerns and for support.”

On May 12, 2008, a devastating earthquake hit Sichuan province, leaving more than 80,000 dead and 10 million homeless. One year on, displaced people who lost their families, homes, and jobs in the quake are still suffering from psychological disorders and are in need of support to rebuild their lives. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been continuing psychological care to the earthquake victims.

On May 2 last year, Nargis Cyclone destroyed everything in its path in the south of Myanmar. It left behind 140,000 dead and missing, as well as immense damage. To help those who survived cope with their grief and suffering, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams have been providing mental health support to populations in the Irrawaddy delta for the past 10 months.

During the first two weeks of March, relatively few people seem to have been able to flee from the conflict-affected Vanni area in northern Sri Lanka. Communication with people inside the Vanni remains incredibly difficult, but accounts given by people who have managed to escape in recent days confirm that civilians remain trapped by the conflict and that it is practically impossible for them to leave as they risk being shot at.

MSF provides mental health counseling in Vavuniya for traumatized patients.

While many wounded people still require medical care, particularly surgical procedures or post-operative care, the population in the Gaza Strip is also in need of social and psychological assistance.

At the instruction of the Sudanese Humanitarian Aid Commission and the Federal Ministry of Health, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) must close the mental health counseling component of its activities in South Darfur.

“In a large-scale disaster such as the Sichuan earthquake, you could find large unmet needs, says Tony Marchant, MSF's outgoing emergency coordinator in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. "But there are very few gaps; they are mainly in the fields of mental health, basic relief items, and shelter. MSF is trying to respond to these gaps.”

The Chinese government is now estimating that more than 5 million have been left homeless by the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated parts of the country’s Sichuan province 12 days ago. A total of 34 MSF team members are now in the affected region and have been carrying out assessments, providing surgical and basic medical care, as well as mental health services, and donating tents and medicines to the relief effort. The local, regional, and national response has been enormous, but some of the needs, especially in the area of shelter, remain.

An interview with Olivia Gayraud, a French emergency nurse, who helped open the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) 56-bed emergency medical and surgical program at St. Joseph's Hospital in Port-au-Prince in October 2004. In March 2007, she became head of mission at the project, which now inlcudes a program to treat victims of sexual violence with medical and mental health care.

Victor Garcia, former MSF Project coordinator in Norte de Santander department, Colombia

Philip Humphris is Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières' (MSF) head of mission for West Darfur state in Sudan. He has returned from western Darfur and, as the number of aid agencies in Darfur continues to decrease, explains what MSF is doing in this region.

Dr. Rowan Gillies, International Council President of MSF, returned to the Darfur region of Sudan in October, more than two years after he worked there as a field doctor. He describes the current situation there and discusses the potential implications of humanitarian aid organizations calling for armed intervention in the region.

Allison Male is a 36-year-old British psychologist. She arrived in Pakistani-administered Kashmir just days after the October 8 earthquake struck and her task is to provide psychosocial support to survivors of the disaster. She has also worked with MSF in Liberia and Burundi. This story is from her diary.

Less than a week after the Asian earthquake of October 8, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) began to offer psychosocial care to traumatized survivors in northern Pakistan, the area worst hit by the disaster. Marise Denault, an MSF social worker and mental health specialist, explains the situation.

Fabienne de Leval, 33, is a psychologist working to coordinate MSF's mental health programs in Bada Aceh, Sigli, and Lamno in Kosovo. 

Erika Seid, an American psychotherapist, spent ten months (March 2004 to January 2005) working with MSF to establish mental health services clinic in Kinkala, a town of six to ten thousand people, in the Pool region of the Republic of Congo.

Clinical psychologist Michael Michalik worked for MSF in the Gaza Strip for six months in late 2003 and early 2004. He is part of a mobile team that works with families most affected by the continuing violence.

When a massive earthquake struck the Indian state of Gujarat on January 26, 2001, MSF was ready to take action. An assessment team arrived on site the next day, and by February 5, MSF had flown in several medical teams and a total of 80 tons of relief supplies. The initial priority was first aid and surgical care for those injured.