Open AccessBuilding mental health and resilience: regional and global perspectives from the inaugural Syrian American Medical Society Mental Health Mission Trip (July 2 to July 7, 2019)
Author(s) -
Mohammad Hamza,
Kevin J. Clancy
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
avicenna journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2249-4464
pISSN - 2231-0770
DOI - 10.4103/ajm.ajm_157_19
Subject(s) - mental health , humanitarian crisis , medicine , refugee , psychological resilience , resilience (materials science) , population , global mental health , psychiatry , political science , environmental health , psychology , physics , law , psychotherapist , thermodynamics
The Syrian conflict has resulted in the most significant refugee crisis since World War II. Current estimates suggest there are over 13.5 million Syrians in need of comprehensive humanitarian assistance as a direct result of the conflict. These humanitarian needs include mental health services to address the elevated rates of psychiatric disorders in this population. Towards this end, the Syrian American Medical Society conducted its inaugural mental health mission trip to Lebanon and Jordan from June to July 2019 to advance the state of mental health care for displaced Syrians. Following two weeks of trainings by international experts in trauma psychology, the mission concluded with a two-day scientific symposium, identifying two key elements for the advancement of humanitarian mental health care: 1) the need for community-based mental health services, and 2) the importance of transitioning from a crisis-response model in humanitarian mental health towards a model of resilience and post-traumatic growth.