The dual effect of the economic crisis and COVID-19 on Lebanese mental health
Opinion Analysis by Taleen El Gharib, Staff Writer
June 24th, 2020
Natural disasters, terrorist attacks, pandemics — crises that leave ugly scars on the world for generations to come. Although each of the previously listed crises weigh deeply on mental, economical, political, and religious levels, a common denominator remains: an unconventional coping method.
For years, people have actively witnessed the aftermaths of darker times. After the 9/11 terrorist attack, Americans began to hug each other more as an act of compassion. The Chernobyl disaster forced a sense of responsibility among the people, paralleled with avoidance. Now in 2020, we are facing a different type of crisis, one that has locked people in their homes and enforced a strict lifestyle with limited social space. The true effects of lockdown on the mental state of citizens appeared rather suddenly and profusely.
It began in early March, when people found solace in the soil of Saint Charbel, believing that the cure to the Coronavirus lay near his burial grounds. In April, a man murdered 10 people in Baakline, including his wife and 2 brothers, after believing that his wife was having an affair.
A Lebanese intelligence officer was caught on security footage in a convenience store in Jdeideh-Fanar shooting his girlfriend and then committing suicide. The tragedy occurred in early May.
So what is happening to Lebanese people’s mental health?
Lebanon continues to tiptoe around the dents left on mental health due to the Coronavirus, fearing what the upcoming months have in store. The current economic situation also weighs heavily on the people of Lebanon, where some goods have become luxuries rather than basic necessities. The dangerous mix of the recession of the Lebanese currency and lockdown have poked the stigma around mental health. Often regarded as a taboo, mental health has centralised itself as a primary result of the current situation in Lebanon.
In order to further expand on mental health and the Lebanese response to the existing stressors, The Phoenix Daily has consulted with a Neurolinguistic Programming trainer, Lina Zebian (Master Your Life). She explained the levels of thinking during crises. “In order to understand the current ‘madness’ we are witnessing, it is essential to know what the levels of thinking are. They define how people have adapted to the current conditions they are in. An individual’s adaptation to complex conditions causes shifts in their levels of thinking” she tells The Phoenix Daily.
People have different value levels, and have the ability to access all of them, depending on the existing conditions. This means, depending on the situation, a person will recede or advance to a certain level in order to cope. Zebian emphasizes on the importance of the variation between these levels when facing a crisis, “crises often result in recessions in levels of thinking. This is why we are witnessing abnormalities, such as the massacre in Baakline. The lower levels of thinking value aspects of self and survival, while the higher levels are more sacrificial.”
Zebian’s testimony was further supported by Master NLP Practitioner, Dr. Nisreen Abi Farraj, who added, “What we witnessed in the Saint Charbel incident proves that some people have shifted to level that finds solace in religion for safety and security. Murders, commonly occurring when alleged self-respect is tampered with, are people at a level in which they lose self-control and sense of guilt.”
Dr. Abi Farraj stresses on the importance of mental health, especially during crises, where its stigmatisation is disastrous.
The end of the stigma is near, but what’s next?
The real burden on people suffering from mental illnesses is not the illness itself, but the stigma around it. It has long been a Middle Eastern mentality, one that falsifies the actuality of mental health. Therefore, the existence of mental health issues and illnesses has been nullified under the umbrella of health.
Despite the existing perception on mental illnesses, the rather common condition affects 1 in 4 adults in Lebanon, according to Embrace, a non-profit organisation that aims to end the stigma on mental health in Lebanon. The country has shown a growing interest in mental health over the years, and the pandemic has certainly enlightened many. Dr. Abi Farraj adds, “the human brain is the most delicate element of the body and spirit. The slightest perversion will reprimand one’s ability to consciously make decisions. This could possibly impair whatever progression Lebanon has made when it comes to the revolution, for instance.”
The current economic crisis has inarguably increased the people’s desperation to stabilise their living situation. Their vulnerability under lockdown, in accordance with Zebian’s analysis on the value levels of thinking during a crisis, on top of the failing economy, will eventually trigger a survival instinct — either one characterised by anger or one of submission to the government.
References
Master Your Life with Lina Zebian - NLP Practitioner and Master courses. (2020, June 10). Retrieved from https://www.linazebian.com/
Embrace Lebanon. (2015). Mental Health Highlights. Embrace Newsletter. Retrieved from https://embracelebanon.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/newsletter-2.pdf
Lebanon In The News Lebanese Intelligence officer kills his girlfriend and commits suicide. Annahar (2020, May 04). Retrieved from https://en.annahar.com/article/1180711-lebanese-intelligence-officer-kills-his-girlfriend-and-commits-suicide
Naharnet Newsdesk 23 April 2020, 1. (n.d.). Baakline Man who Killed 10 including Wife and 2 Brothers Arrested. Retrieved from http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/271285
AsiaNews.it. (n.d.). Saint Charbel earth to defeat the coronavirus. Retrieved from http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Saint-Charbel-earth-to-defeat-the-coronavirus-49518.html