Palestinians, Geopolitics and Psychiatry

JVL Introduction

It is almost impossible to imagine the mental health impact of the genocide in Gaza, the total lack of justice for all Palestinians.  “The psychological toll of Gaza’s decades of conflict and occupation is profound, with adults and children alike enduring depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and the chronic stress of living under constant threat.”  This is no post traumatic stress disorder for there is no “post” but rather “continuous traumatic stress,”…shaped…by the relentless rhythm of violence, displacement, and loss.”

We are pleased to publish this interview with  Dr. Samah Jabr, a leading advocate of appropriate mental health approaches; she says:  “The current moment in Gaza and the West Bank represents an intensification of colonial traumatic stress reaching its most extreme form” and “In Gaza, where entire families are erased in [Israeli] strikes and where survival is precarious, the psychological impact cannot be conceptualised within conventional trauma frameworks designed for time-limited events. What emerges is a state in which the mind is forced to adapt to the ongoing possibility of annihilation,” 

She has also collected a number of articles written over many years in a powerful book “Radiance in Pain and Resilience”.  We commend this article and her book to you all.

LL

This article was originally published by New Arab on Thu 23 Apr 2026. Read the original here.