About my first visit to a psychiatrist

Fouad Bou Ghadr

“I do not forget my first visit to a psychiatrist. I went with great hesitation and tried to postpone the matter several times.” It is one of many chats I had with friends of mine before writing this article. It is very difficult and difficult for the mental health of the younger generation, some of whom were broken by the economic crisis, and some of them lived a harsh childhood accompanied by its repercussions until today, and some of them saw in the August 4 bombing the end of the world…

Many of these refer to psychotherapy. And some prevented him from stereotyping psychotherapy as “for the crazy” or the difficult living conditions of this topic, one of them said: “I prefer to eat with my family than to spend money on therapists, seeing my parents or my younger brothers without food will destroy my soul if treated by the best therapists.” .

“Every day is more difficult than the one before”

Ziyad (pseudonym), a young man in his twenties, recounts the psychological suffering he has been experiencing for more than a year and a half. With great sadness, Ziad answers the question “How are you today?”: “Today I am not well and every day I see it more difficult than the previous day, since the beginning of 2021 and I am at the peak of refraction. I am trying to adapt to reality by resorting to psychological treatment, going out with friends and overlooking everything that is It’s going around me, but the progress is very slow.”

Ziad lives on the outskirts of the capital, Beirut, in a modest house with his family and brothers, with whom he has a tense relationship most of the time. One year separates him from graduating from university, and he is majoring in the field of media and journalism. Ziad works more than 14 hours a day, but the fuel price hike, which touched 700,000 pounds per can of petrol, forces him to spend more than half of his income for transportation.

Living and psychological pressures affected Ziad’s relationship with his family and friends, and he says: “Since my mental health deteriorated, I have had great difficulty in dealing with my family, as they do not understand me and do not care regarding what I’m going through. As for my friends, they are accustomed to my positive personality, and when I was unable to present this character, he decided Many of them are Turkish. I don’t blame them, everyone goes through a lot of problems and I became a person who really gives off negative energy.”

Regarding going to psychotherapy, Ziad recalls the insistence of his childhood friend Muhammad on this topic: “Muhammad knew everything I went through on a daily basis, and he noticed that my condition worsened day following day until he forced me to the topic later. I have to bear the burdens of this issue, especially since I am from a middle class family.”

He added, “I do not forget my first visit to psychiatric treatment, I went with great hesitation and tried to postpone the issue several times. My first meeting was at the end of last year, and today I feel a slow improvement due to the difficulty of my condition and the lack of help in the circumstances surrounding me, according to the description of psychological treatment.”

Ziad believes that this treatment will lead to happy endings, and he is grateful for the presence of the psychotherapist beside him because she is the only one who understands what he is saying and what he is going through. He hopes to remain able to bear the burden, and states that without the cooperation of the treatment with him and the reduction of prices, he would have stopped the treatment 3 months ago.

It is mentioned that everything Ziyad is going through is in the absence of his family’s knowledge, and he is sure that they would reject the issue of treatment if he told them. Many Lebanese families still reject these issues, and the absence of parental support in these sensitive periods for young people may be one of the main reasons for the exacerbation of psychological crises.

The “Naha Hodak” initiative: Psychotherapy is a right for everyone

In the journey of searching for a psychotherapist, the Lebanese note the great disparity in the prices of sessions. Some are satisfied with a little feeling of people’s situation, and some have decided to limit their services to the able class only. The pricing of some has reached more than $100 per session. Is this logical? Treatment sessions do not need any dollar expenses, except for lighting and air conditioning to the maximum.

Several psychological initiatives originated in Lebanon, especially following “August 4,” some of which were limited to the period following the bombing, and some continued until today. The “Nahna Haddak” initiative was launched following the bombing, and it still provides free and semi-free services to this day. The initiative was founded by Hussein Hamiyeh, a student at the Lebanese University. The initiative includes more than 75 therapists distributed in different Lebanese regions.

Abeer Aladdin, who is in charge of the hotline [phone]), stresses the great role this initiative is currently playing, with the huge amount of pressure the Lebanese are going through. Abeer adds, “Many turn to us because of the high cost of sessions. Our initiative also provides free online services, which brings comfort to many people, as many of them prefer to keep the issue of their treatment confidential.”

Najwa Abu Eid Hakim, a therapist within the “Nahna Haddak” initiative, believes that young people today are facing very difficult circumstances and says: “There is not a single topic that causes psychological fatigue in young people, everything we go through awakens a person’s feelings. Today we are facing a difficult reality. The causes can never be determined.

Shocking was the report issued by the World Health Organization this week, which considered that a quarter of the planet’s population suffers from mental disorders. The organization called on governments to transform mental health care services globally. This report reflects the extent of the great transformation that this world is witnessing, and that all new innovations have failed to make people happy.

In Lebanon, the reality is more difficult. A country whose people and children are dying at the gates of hospitals is difficult to attach importance to the mental health of the people. Several private initiatives were able to compensate a little for the failure of the official authorities, but this official failure is no longer acceptable. Our people deserve life, and young people need a minimum level of stability to prove the saying “the Lebanese have no right to it”, so act before the negative rates rise, especially the suicide rates!