Rehabilitating Torture Survivors - Dignity - Danish Institute Against ...

WORKSHOP 3: The Context of Torture(Wednesday Dec 3 Afternoon)Mental Health in Protracted Conflict SituationsInvited lecturerAbdel Hamid Afana, PhDPresident, International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), DouglasHospital Research Institute, McGill University,Québec, CanadaThe implications of protracted conflict goes beyond the loss of individuals’ lifeand destruction of their infrastructure, its devastating consequences appear inthe social and cultural fabrics of people, their identity and their values system.They experienced oppression, multiple, repetitive and continuous traumaticexperiences. People are forced to leave their houses as internally displaced,where many others expelled from their villages and cities to find safe refuge inneighbouring countries, which represents not only the loss of live hood and politicalwell, it also represents the disintegration of society, the frustration ofnational aspiration and the beginning of rapid process of destruction of theirculture.The long period of victimization and traumatization aggravate the feelings offrustration and hopelessness which inevitably activate new waves of violenceand aggression aimed at restoring people’s dignity and self-esteem. Responsesto living in political conflict and to traumatic experiences are not universal innature and can be manifested in different social and psychological levels, butnot necessarily lead to psychopathology, but rather illustrate the aspects ofnormal cognitive functioning. These responses fall within the range of normalresponse to overwhelming events that may or may not lead medical or psychiatricinterventions.Unfortunately, the long term effects protracted conflicts have been reduced toindividual level, through establishing a direct linkage between the trauma andcertain symptoms in some individuals. Traumas must be examined not onlyfrom the trauma related disorders, but also on the individual and collective levels,where psychosocial and biological processes have to be linked to macrosocio-cultural and political determinants of trauma.In the Palestinian context, which is one of the main chronic protracted conflictsin the world, little is known about culturally specific expressions of distress thatmay be linked with exposure to political violence, torture and war. Examiningcultural variations in the understanding and expression of trauma-related distresshas implications for the definition of trauma in psychiatric nosology, aswell as for the design and delivery of clinical and community interventions. Thesocial representations of trauma and ways in which trauma is defined amongPalestinians living in protracted conflict situations in the Gaza Strip will be describedin this presentation.19