The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After deadly explosion in Beirut, helpers tend to shock and trauma
Psychologist steps up during time of need in Lebanese capital.
When a massive explosion ripped through Beirut this month, Yorgo Younes scurried to flee his building. He saw children crying and adults screaming as they scrambled for safety, one running barefoot over jagged pieces of glass in a state of shock and fear.
A clinical psychologist, Younes thought of the toll this moment would exact. “I had a choice either to panic, too, or to do something.”
Online, Younes and others offered to help those grappling with the shock and trauma of a blast that devastated a people wearied by severe economic turmoil and the coronavirus pandemic and related hardship.
After his offer to provide what he describes as “psychological first aid,” Younes says he has received dozens of calls and messages seeking help.
People have turned to him with complaints of anxiety, difficulty breathing, insomnia or having nightmares. Some had feelings of survivor’s guilt: Why did others lose their lives or homes while they were spared, they wondered.
Younes usually starts by telling them their reactions are normal, works to calm them with breathing exercises and provides tips on how to deal with anxiety.
Offers to help navigate the trauma are part of a wider effort by many in Lebanon who, bound by catastrophe, closed ranks to tend to their collective wounds. They opened their homes for strangers or swept up streets strewn with glass and rubble, helping fill what many say is a void left by the state.
“In a moment where we all lost hope, in a way, I don’t know how it is that right away we decided we needed to do something,” Younes said. “We got back on our feet, and everyone tried to help in the way they know and to offer the skills they have.”
Nadine Ghanimeh, a psychotherapist who has also volunteered her services, said she wanted to offer presence and emotional support to those who are struggling.
“My generation knew war for long periods of time” — the Lebanese civil war started in 1975 and ended in 1990 — “and we all know how important the human presence is ... at such times,” she said. “Once they understand that whatever they are feeling is normal and it will pass with time, this helps.”